INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Moscow on Wednesday kicked out diplomats from France, Italy and Spain in retaliation for the expulsion of Russian diplomats from European
countries as part of a joint action against Russia's campaign in Ukraine.Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement it was expelling 34
summoning France's ambassador to Russia, Pierre Levy, and telling him that the expulsion of 41 employees of Russian diplomatic missions was
a "provocative and unfounded decision," the statement said.The ministry later said that 27 employees of the Spanish embassy in Moscow and
the Spanish Consulate General in St
Gomez Martinez that the expulsion of Russian diplomats from Madrid "would have a negative impact on Russian-Spanish relations."While there
was no official statement, the Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed to Russian news agencies that 24 Italian diplomats
this step from Moscow had "no legitimate basis."It said the work of French diplomats in Russia "takes place fully within the framework of
spies.Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi condemned the expulsions as a "hostile act" but said diplomatic channels must remain open "because
it's through those channels that, if possible, peace (in Ukraine) will be achieved."Separately, municipal lawmakers in Moscow on Wednesday
backed a decision to name a previously unnamed area in front of the U.S
Embassy in Moscow "Donbas Defenders Square."The name refers to a majority Russian-speaking region in eastern Ukraine that Russia says it is
liberating as part of its military campaign.In February 2018, a street outside the Russian Embassy in Washington was named after Boris
barrage of international sanctions and growing isolation from the global community as relations with the West deteriorate to Cold War
