Zakharova noted the lie in the words of the Italian Foreign Minister about the expulsion of diplomats

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani inaccurately described the circumstances of the expulsion of two Italian diplomats from Russia, calling it a baseless "act of revenge." This was announced on July 20 by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova.

The diplomat quoted Tajani's statement, where he pointed out that the Italian attache and his assistant were asked to leave Moscow "without any grounds," while two Russian diplomats were allegedly convicted of espionage activities against Rome.

"I don't understand: so "without any grounds" or "an act of revenge"? Although both are not true. This is a response to the actions of the Italian government," Zakharova stressed in her Telegram channel.

She also wondered how Italian ministers would present such news to Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni.

"They say that bad Russia sent good Italian diplomats home for nothing, and Italy sent bad Russians for the cause," Zakharova pointed out the absurdity of such a position.

Tajani said earlier in the day that the Italian military attache in Moscow and his colleague had been expelled from Russia. He added that this decision was a response to Rome's expulsion of two Russian military attaches.

The Russian Foreign Ministry noted that, based on the principle of reciprocity, the agency declares Assistant Attache for Defense Vittorio Parrella persona non grata, as well as the attache of the Italian Embassy in Russia, Davide D'Aprile. In response to Rome's actions, they are ordered to leave Moscow within three days.

On July 9, Russian Ambassador to Rome Alexei Paramonov was summoned to the Italian Foreign Ministry, where he was informed about the expulsion of military attaches. According to him, Italy is expelling as many Russian diplomats as possible, wanting to reduce and limit the influence of the Russian Federation, but this is impossible. He expressed the hope that the situation would change and Italy would return to its former independence and glory.