Russia’s Foreign Ministry says it has informed ambassadors of most of the countries that ordered expulsions of Russian diplomats that an equal number of their diplomats have been declared persona non grata.
A ministry statement Friday said the ambassadors were from 23 of the countries that are expelling Russians in connection with the poisoning in Britain of a former Russian double agent and his daughter.
READ MORE: Russian ex-spy’s daughter ‘improving rapidly’ after nerve agent attack
Four of those being expelled are from the Canadian embassy, according to Sputnik, the Russian state news agency.
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WATCH: Russia expels scores of Western diplomats in retaliation for expulsion of its own
Russia on Thursday announced it was expelling 60 US diplomats and closing the consulate in St. Petersburg in retaliation
for Washington’s moves.
READ MORE: Russia expels 60 U.S. diplomats in row over U.K. spy poisoning case
The countries informed Friday of expulsions were Australia, Albania, Germany, Denmark, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Canada, Latvia,
Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Ukraine, Finland, France, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Sweden and Estonia.
In the statement, the ministry said Russia would consider mirror expulsions of diplomats from Belgium, Hungary, Georgia and Montenegro.
The statement did not mention NATO, which is expelling seven Russians.
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