CHISINAU. May 30 (Interfax) - The Moldovan Foreign Ministry made its decision to expel five Russian diplomats on the basis of information provided by Moldovan security services, Prime Minister Pavel Filip said.
"This decision was made following relevant information from security services. It is standard procedure. That is all I can say now, there will be no other comments at this point," Filip said at a news briefing on Tuesday.
Asked by reporters how this decision might affect development of Moldovan-Russian relations, Filip said, "We value our relations with the Russian Federation and have done a lot to restore them."
He cited as an example the fact the intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation between two countries met in 2016 for the first time in many years and that a plan on "lifting the restrictions imposed by Russia on a number of Moldovan goods" was approved.
"We have sent a note to Russia in light of very bad cooperation in investigating the case on Russian money laundered through Moldova this year. In addition to the lack of cooperation in the investigation into this case, Russia resorted to abusing Moldovan officials who had travelled to Russia or via Russia," Filip said.
"We respect Russia and value our relations, but we want respect for Moldova as well, even though we are a small country, particularly as Moldova is a member of the CIS and the rules existing within the Commonwealth in relation to other countries need to be observed," Filip said.
As Interfax has previously reported, Moldova declared five Russian diplomats personae non gratae and ordered that they leave the country within 72 hours on May 29.