Russia expels 40 German diplomats

Moscow: Russia has decided to declare 40 German diplomats personae non gratae in a tit-for-tat response to Berlin, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

The ministry mentioned that it summoned the German ambassador in Russia on Monday to lodge a protest over expulsion of 40 Russian diplomats from Germany.

“The German ambassador received a note declaring 40 employees of German diplomatic missions in Russia ‘persona non grata’ as a symmetrical response to the aforementioned decision of the German government,” the ministry said in a statement.