Kremlin lashes out at five EU countries already on unfriendly list

A group of five EU countries are now double-registered on Russia's list of unfriendly countries - a list that had already included all EU member states - as Russia announced on Friday plans to specifically degrade diplomatic relations with them.

The status change for Croatia, Denmark, Greece, Slovakia and Slovenia largely focuses on the abilities of their embassies in Russia to hire native personnel. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov referred to it as a further step.

The new rules mean Croatia and Slovenia are not no longer allowed to employ Russians at their embassies, while the other three are all subject to stiff upper limits. Peskov said more restrictions could come.

He said the new diplomatic punishment was the result of unfriendly policies by those countries, though he gave no details.

Russia began its list of unfriendly countries last year, initially containing only the Czech Republic and the US. It has since expanded to include all nations that laid sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

Countries on the list are required by Russia to make payments for Russian goods in roubles, a demand most countries have resisted. The demand for rouble payments is designed to strengthen the currency and to provide hard currency for Russian banks that have been cut out of international financial networks by the sanctions.