Russian Delegations Arriving In Switzerland Faced No Accreditation Problems - Ambassador

Russian delegations did not experience any problems when they arrived in Switzerland, Russian Ambassador in Bern Sergey Garmonin told Sputnik on Tuesday, commenting on the Swiss foreign minister's remarks about Russian diplomats being denied accreditation over a recent spying scandal.

GENEVA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th September, 2018) Russian delegations did not experience any problems when they arrived in Switzerland, Russian Ambassador in Bern Sergey Garmonin told Sputnik on Tuesday, commenting on the Swiss foreign minister's remarks about Russian diplomats being denied accreditation over a recent spying scandal.

Last week, Swiss and Dutch media reported about two Russians allegedly intending to spy on a lab in the Swiss city of Spiez that has been investigating chemical attacks in Syria and the attempted poisoning in Salisbury. On Monday, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis told the SRF broadcaster that Switzerland had refused to issue accreditation for some Russian diplomats due to the scandal.

"There were no such problems with the visits of Russian official delegations here," Garmonin said.

According to media reports, the alleged agents were detained in the Netherlands in the spring of this year and later deported to Russia. The reports did not contain the time and circumstances of the detention. According to Swiss newspaper Tages Anzeiger, Swiss intelligence services confirmed their participation in this operation "along with Dutch and British counterparts."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that Moscow would be ready to comment on the reports only after receiving the facts.