Russia slams Netherlands over diplomat's beating, 'deadline for explanation' passes

(RT) - Foreign Ministry spokesman Aleksandr Lukashevich added that the results of the initial talks with the Dutch government on the issue were "more than disappointing."

"The attempt of the Dutch side to somehow justify the brutal police action does not hold water," Lukashevich said, saying that the "unacceptable" and "incomprehensible" incident was not equal to the usual level of Russian-Dutch relations.

In Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the Dutch ambassador to account for the incident. On Tuesday the ambassador left the ministry, refusing to make any comment to press about the attack on Borodin.

"Police in The Hague managed to beat up and detain the second-in-command of the Russian Embassy without any punishment from the higher authorities. This looks like a response to the Greenpeace affair," wrote Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for the Russian President.

The incident has heightened tensions between the Dutch and Russian governments already at loggerheads over the detention of Greenpeace activists who staged a protest at a Russian oil rig off Russia's north coast.

On Friday, the Netherlands has filed a lawsuit against Russia in an International Maritime Dispute Court, in a bid to win the release of the Dutch-registered Greenpeace vessel 'Arctic Sunrise' and its 30-strong crew - all of whom face charges of piracy.

In response to the announcement, the Russian government issued a sharp rebuke to the Dutch government for failing to address the issue earlier.

"Over the last year-and-a-half the Russian side made repeated attempts to contact their Dutch counterparts to intervene in the vessel's illegal activities," Russian Foreign Ministry deputy head Aleksey Meshkov told RIA Novosti on Saturday.

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