Lithuania has expelled a Russian diplomat and Russia intends to expel a Lithuanian in retaliation, media sources in Lithuania reported on Sunday, according to DPA. The high-ranking Russian, a diplomat working in Vilnius, was expelled on suspicion of espionage and trying to influence Lithuania's support of Georgia in its current dispute with Russia, according to reports by the Lithuanian national radio and Baltic News Service BNS. Russia intends to expel a Lithuanian diplomat in retaliation, the news services added. Neither the Lithuanian nor Russian foreign ministries have yet commented on the reports. Lithuania, a NATO member since 2004, has come out strongly in support of Tbilisi in its current dispute with Moscow, which began when Georgian police arrested four Russian military officers as spies in late September.
