Russia's Foreign Ministry said
Ambassador Vladimir Titorenko as beaten on Nov. 29 when he passed through customs upon returning to Qatar from a business trip to Jordan.
It said Titorenko and two other
diplomats were attacked by security officers who tried to forcibly seize a parcel from a
diplomatic pouch the ambassador was carrying.
It said the ambassador was
hospitalized after the attack.
Moscow has “made the decision to downgrade relations with Qatar,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani by telephone, a Ministry statement said.
“Russian Ambassador (Vladimir) Titorenko will leave Qatar after finishing his course of treatment in the coming days,” added the statement.
The Qatari Foreign Ministry could not be reached for comment.
A complaint sent by the Ministry to Qatar on Nov. 30 demanding an apology received no reply, the statement said.
Qatar said last month it was in negotiations to take a stake in an Arctic liquefied natural gas (LNG) project under development by number-two Russian gas producer Novatek.
The project, in Russia’s northern Yamal peninsula, envisions developing the South Tambey field located in the Arctic area. Resources from the condensate and gas field are expected to produce 5 million tons of LNG per year when production starts in 2016 and reach 15 million tons per year in 2018.