Simon Coveney says Ireland has to keep "some diplomatic channel" open with Russia.
However the Foreign Affairs Minister says he has not ruled out expelling diplomats.
It comes amid mounting calls for the Government to expel Ambassador Yury Filatov over his country's invasion of Ukraine.
Minister Coveney told Newstalk Breakfast: "I totally understand that sentiment and the anger here.
"But I'm a foreign minister - I've got to make sure that I also think about the interests of Irish citizens in Russia, of Irish citizens in Ukraine."
He says Ireland needs to keep "some diplomatic channel open so that we can protect the humanitarian interests of those people.
"We have children being born in Kyiv, whose parents are Irish, through surrogacy who can't get to those children at the moment.
"I need to ensure that, regardless of what happens in the coming days and weeks, that we have some line of communication with Moscow in terms of looking after our own people.
"Does that mean that we won't expel diplomats - no it doesn't and we may well do that".
'€9m of €500m fund'
On new sanctions against Russia, and EU plans to arm the Ukrainian military, he says Ireland is playing its equal part.
"The European Union has now agreed to use what's called the European Peace Facility, to spend €500m effectively arming the Ukrainian military - and supporting them with both lethal weapons and non-lethal weapons.
"From Ireland's perspective, we've made it very clear that we won't be contributing funds towards the purchase of lethal weapons.
"But we will certainly be paying an equivalent amount for non-lethal weapon support - so helmets, protection vests, medical kit, fuel, that kind of thing.
"We're putting a lot more money in percentage terms into the other protective equipment.
"We'll contribute about €9m to that €500m fund".
Asked whether Ireland should go further and follow Germany's example of supplying military weapons, he says: "Germany is a member of NATO, we're not.
"And when we actually were part of designing the European Peace Facility last year, we specifically put into that facility a mechanism to allow countries [to opt out].
"We are with the people of Ukraine, and we are putting money into the pot... we will be making as big a contribution as any other country to that fund".
Asked if he agreed with Charlie Flanagan that the Russian ambassador "lied through his teeth about the imminent invasion", Mr Coveney says he believes Russia had been planning the Ukraine invasion "for many months".
"The Russian ambassador in Ireland is part of that Russian system; and I think people will make their own judgements on that - I think it's pretty obvious".
