BRESSELS (Dispatches) - NATO has expelled eight members of Russia’s mission to the alliance it said were “undeclared Russian intelligence officers”, a NATO official said, in a further deterioration of ties between western countries and Russia reminiscent of the Cold War.
The expulsion of the Russians was reported earlier by Britain’s Sky News, which said Moscow’s mission to the alliance headquarters in Brussels would be halved “in response to suspected malign Russian activities, including killings and espionage”.
NATO said that it had withdrawn the accreditation of eight members of the Russian mission and reduced to 10 the number of positions Moscow is able to accredit to NATO.
Sky News reported that NATO’s decision came after information was revealed in April about the fatal explosions at a Czech ammunition depot in 2014 that Prague says involved two Russian spies, who were also identified as allegedly implicated in the poisoning of Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the UK.
Russia has long had an observer mission to NATO as part of the NATO-Russia Council founded 20 years ago that was meant to promote cooperation in common security areas, but it is not a member of the U.S.-led alliance.

‘Expulsions Undermine
Hope for Dialogue’

Moscow announced on Thursday that NATO’s move to cut the size of Russia’s diplomatic mission almost completely undermined its hopes that relations could be normalized and dialogue resumed with the bloc.
The remarks came after NATO expelled eight members of Russia’s mission to the alliance who were “undeclared Russian intelligence officers”.
Russia might reduce the NATO representation in Moscow to the minimum, RIA news agency quoted Vladimir Dzhabarov, first deputy head of the international committee of the Federation Council, as saying on Thursday.
The current Russia-NATO relations are frosty at the moment, Dzhabarov mentioned, adding that there is no need to talk about any possibility of improving the relations in the near future.
By expelling Russian diplomats from Brussels, NATO shows the real value of its statements about the importance of de-escalating relations with Moscow, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told the Kommersant daily commenting on the reduction of the Russian delegation at NATO, according to TASS.