Russia blasts the West over two issues

Reporting from Moscow — Officials in Moscow lashed out bitterly at the West on Thursday, excoriating NATO for expelling two Russians suspected of spying and for pushing ahead with planned military exercises in Georgia.

In sharp contrast to the Obama administration’s call for a “reset” of U.S.-Russian relations and the recent thaw in Russian-NATO ties, it was a day of acrimony and veiled threats as Russian officials resorted to some of their toughest talk in weeks.

Two high-ranking members of Russia’s permanent mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization were stripped of their credentials and expelled from Belgium on accusations of espionage, the alliance’s leadership said Thursday. The two were identified as political desk chief Viktor Kochukov and mission attache and executive secretary Vasily Chizhov.

The Russian Foreign Ministry called the expulsions “provocative,” and issued a statement warning NATO to “think about the consequences of what happened. We will certainly make our own conclusions from this provocation.”

Dmitry Rogozin, Russia’s permanent envoy to NATO, said the charges of espionage were false, calling them “unprecedented crude steps aimed to unbalance Russia” and derail newly resumed talks between Russia and the alliance. The expulsions came just as the NATO-Russia Council met for the first time since Moscow’s war last summer with Georgia.

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