NATO plans to expel 2 Russian envoys

MOSCOW, April 30 (UPI) -- NATO's decision to expel two Russian diplomats from its Brussels headquarters is a "scandalous" provocation, Russia's Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

"The scandalous move runs counter to NATO leaders' statements on their readiness to improve relations with Russia," the ministry said. "Naturally, we will draw our own conclusions about this provocation."

Two Russian diplomats -- senior counselor Victor Kochukov and junior attache Vasily Chizhov -- will lose their accreditation to the Atlantic alliance's headquarters in Brussels, where Russia maintains a permanent mission, Russian Ambassador Dmitry Rogozin said.

Rogozin said NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer of the Netherlands told him about the expulsions Wednesday evening.

Russia's "response will be clear and tough," Rogozin told the Russian Information Agency Novosti.

The Financial Times reported Thursday NATO's decision was a response to a spy scandal involving former Estonian Defense Ministry security official Herman Simm, convicted in February of passing NATO secrets to Russia from 1995 until his arrest in 2008 and sentenced to 12 1/2 years in prison.

A NATO spokesman said Thursday the alliance had no comment on whether any diplomatic accreditation had been withdrawn.