Russia on Friday expelled diplomats from three EU member states it accused of attending illegal protests in support of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, and pointedly ignored a public call by the EU's top diplomat to free the opposition politician.
The expulsions, which affected diplomats from Germany, Poland and Sweden, appear to have wrecked an EU attempt to re-engage with Moscow being spearheaded by Josep Borrell, the EU's foreign policy chief, who was in Russia for talks on Friday.
Navalny, President Vladimir Putin's most prominent critic, was jailed this week for almost three years for parole violations he calls trumped up, a move the West condemned.