XINHUA MOSCOW -- A Japanese diplomat in Russia's far eastern city of Vladivostok is being expelled after being arrested for espionage, the Russian Federal Security Service FSB announced on Monday.
The Minister Counselor of the Japanese Embassy in Moscow was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry and was informed that the consul in question must leave Russia within 48 hours for activities incompatible with the status of a consular officer.
A consul of the Consulate General of Japan in Vladivostok was arrested redhanded while receiving information about the status of Russia's cooperation with one of the Asia-Pacific countries, including the impact of Western sanctions on Russia's Primorsky Territory, an FSB statement reads.
The ministry said the minister counsellor of the Japanese Embassy in Moscow was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry on Monday and was informed that the consul in question must leave Russia within 48 hours for activities that are incompatible with the status of a consular officer and detrimental to Russia's security interests.
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The Russian Foreign Ministry has a strong protest against the incident on the Japanese side.