The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed that it had handed the US embassy in Moscow a list of a number of US diplomats who would be declared, as persona non grata.

The Foreign Ministry stated that the expulsion of US diplomats from the country is a response to Washington's expulsion of Russian diplomats from the United Nations mission in New York, and a Russian staff member in the United Nations Secretariat.

The ministry also stressed that any hostile actions by the United States against Russia will receive a decisive and appropriate response.

A few days ago, the Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed it would respond in an appropriate manner to every unjustified case of expelling Russian diplomats.

In late February, the Russian delegate to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia, said the United States declared 12 diplomats from the Russian mission as persona non grata and requested them to leave the country by March 7.

Nebenzia described the decision as "another hostile step" against Russian diplomats and accused the US of "grossly violating their commitments on the [UN-US] Host Country Agreement that they undertook."