Photo taken on April 16, 2021 shows the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia in Moscow.(Photo: Xinhua)

 
The Russian Foreign Ministry said Monday that it is expelling a staffer of the Ukrainian Embassy in Moscow in response to the expulsion of a Russian diplomat on April 19.

The ministry declared the diplomat "persona non grata" and asked him to leave Russia by April 30.

The ministry said it had warned the Ukrainian side that if Kiev continues "hostile actions" against staffers of Russian diplomatic and consular missions, Moscow will take additional measures to retaliate on the basis of reciprocity.