The European Commission has stood up for the EU's top diplomat amid his visit to Russia, which coincided with the expulsion of three European diplomats.

EU Foreign Minister Josep Borrell said he found out about the expulsion of diplomats from social media when he spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow on Friday. Borrell earlier noted that his calls for Russia to stop the expulsions had been ignored, Reuters reported.

The former head of the Estonian Defense Ministry, MEP, Riho Terras, has launched a campaign for Borrell's resignation.

But the European Commission has said it has no regrets that Borrell visited Moscow as the EU's foreign policy coordinator because Russia is heading towards a confrontation that Borrell has sought to prevent.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday that Russian officials were not the initiators of the breakdown of relations.

According to him, the expulsion of diplomats from Germany, Poland, and Sweden in connection with their participation in the protests against the detention of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny took place ahead of Borrell's trip.