Russia expelled 18 European Union (EU) diplomats on Friday in a retaliatory move, the country's foreign ministry said in a statement.

The ministry had summoned head of the EU Delegation to Russia Markus Ederer in a protest over the EU's decision to declare 19 Russian diplomats "personae non gratae" earlier this month, the statement said.

"In response to the hostile actions of the European Union, 18 employees working at the EU Delegation to Russia have been declared 'personae non gratae' and will have to leave the territory of the Russian Federation in the near future," the ministry said.