Moscow has ordered five Moldovan and two Estonian diplomats to leave Russia following the expulsion of Russian diplomats from the two countries.
Russia's Foreign Ministry said on May 31 that five Moldovan diplomats in Moscow were declared "personae non grata" and ordered to leave Russia within three days.
"The Russian side has expressed hope that Chisinau recognizes that its unfriendly actions are counterproductive," a statement said.
The Moldovan Foreign Ministry announced the expulsion of five Russian diplomats on May 30, without disclosing a reason, amid tensions between the former Soviet republic's pro-Russian President Igor Dodon and its Western-leaning government.
Dodon condemned the expulsions and said he would discuss them during a visit to St. Petersburg this week.
The Russian Foreign Ministry also announced on May 31 that it ordered two diplomats at the Estonian Consulate-General in St. Petersburg to leave the country within five days, after Estonia's government said on May 26 it was expelling two Russian diplomats, without elaborating.
Relations between Russia and Estonia, a member of both the European Union and NATO, have been tense for years.
