Russia expels Canada envoys over Nato row

Russia on Wednesday expelled two Canadian diplomats working for Nato’s Moscow office in response to an “unfriendly act” by the military alliance. Last week, Nato expelled two Russian envoys from its headquarters in Brussels, reportedly due to spying.

Nato said in a statement that the Russian move was unjustified and “very unfortunate and counterproductive”. The diplomatic spat came as Nato began military exercises in Georgia, seen by Russia as a “provocation”.

Last August, Russian and Georgian forces clashed in a brief war over breakaway pro-Moscow Georgian territories.

Nine months after the war in Georgia relations between Russia and Nato were supposed to be getting back on track. Instead, they have taken a sudden and dramatic turn for the worse, our correspondent reports.

Ottawa’s ambassador to Russia, Ralph Lysyshyn, was summoned to the foreign ministry where he was told Moscow felt it had been forced into the move.