Russian Foreign Ministry announced that Russia has declared 18 employees of the European Union’s mission in Moscow persona non-grata.

The ministry indicated that European Union Ambassador in Russia Markus Ederer was summoned over the EU’s decision to expel 19 Russian diplomats earlier in April.

"As a response to the unfriendly actions of the European Union, 18 employees of the EU mission in Russia have been declared ‘persona non grata’ and will have to leave the territory of the Russian Federation in the near future," the ministry said.

EU deplores expulsion of diplomats from Moscow

In response, the European External Action Service pointed out that the European Union deplores the expulsion of its diplomats from Moscow.

In a statement, the Action Service said "The European Union deplores the unjustified, baseless decision of the Russian Federation to expel 18 members of the Delegation of the European Union to the Russian Federation."

The statement read that "The EU diplomats in question exercise their functions in the framework of and in full respect for the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations."

"There are no grounds for Friday’s decision by the Russian authorities beyond being a pure retaliatory step," the statement claimed.