OREANDA-NEWS  The Estonian Foreign Ministry summoned Russian Ambassador Vladimir Lipaev. Lipayev was handed a document stating that Russia should reduce the number of embassy staff in Tallinn. "According to the decision, Russia should reduce the number of embassy staff to eight diplomats and up to fifteen administrative, technical and maintenance workers," the statement said. The Ministry notes that the purpose of this decision is to achieve parity in the number of positions in Russian and Estonian representative offices.

He stated that this decision was made "in order to achieve parity or equivalence in the number of posts in the embassy." "Estonia considers the principle of equivalence very important in relations with Russia. Considering that the staff of the Russian Embassy is not engaged in promoting relations between Estonia and Russia in the conditions of an aggressive war, we see that the current size of the Russian representation is unjustified," the minister said at a press conference.

As Mr. Reinsalu clarified, since the beginning of the military operation in Ukraine, Estonia has reduced bilateral relations with Russia to a minimum. He recalled that in the spring Estonia closed the Russian consular offices in Narva and Tartu, and also expelled three employees of the Russian embassy. "Today's step correlates with the overall low point in our bilateral relations," Urmas Reinsalu stressed.

On March 18, 2022, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia expelled a total of ten Russian diplomats. On April 5, the Estonian authorities expelled 14 Russian diplomats and closed the Russian consulate in Narva. On April 21, Russia announced the closure of the Consulate General of Estonia in St. Petersburg. On October 18, Estonia declared Russia a sponsor of terrorism.