Croatia tells 24 Russian embassy staff to leave over Ukraine invasion

BELGRADE (Reuters) -Croatia on Monday told 24 Russian embassy staff to leave over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and “brutal aggression,” the foreign ministry said in a statement, following similar moves by other EU countries.

The 24 included 18 diplomats, it said.

The ministry said that the Russian ambassador was summoned in a protest over the “brutal aggression on Ukraine and numerous crimes committed (there).”

“The Russian party was informed about the reduction of administrative-technical staff of the Russian Federation’s embassy in Zagreb,” the statement said.

“Russia will give an appropriate response,” news agency TASS quoted foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying on Monday.

The European Union on Friday adopted a new package of sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine which includes a ban on coal imports, new restrictions on trade and the blacklisting of several oligarchs close to the Kremlin.

Russia says it launched a “special military operation” in Ukraine on Feb. 24 to demilitarize and “denazify” the country. Ukraine and the West saw that as a pretext for an unprovoked invasion.

(Reporting by Ivana Sekularac; Editing by Nick Macfie and Mark Porter)