Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney announced that four senior staff from the Russian Embassy in Ireland have been asked to leave the country. "The Department of Foreign Affairs summoned the Russian Ambassador to Iveagh House (the Department of Foreign Affairs' headquarters) this afternoon to advise him that four senior officials have been asked to leave the state," Coveney said in a statement on Tuesday, according to reports. "This is due to their actions not being in conformity with international diplomatic rules of conduct. "This action is being conducted in accordance with Article 9 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which was signed in 1961," he explained. The Irish government "continues to think that the diplomatic lines between Ireland and the Russian Federation should remain open," according to a statement posted on the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs' website. "This is in the best interests of our citizens as well as to ensure that Ireland and the Russian Federation can have a diplomatic line of communication in the future," the statement stated. 12 deaths reported in Russia's airstrike on Ukraine's regional Admin building Putin-Zelensky meeting possible only after agreement ready IAEA Dir-General visits Ukraine to discuss nuclear safety support