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Russia Expels Romanian Diplomat in Response to Bucharest's Actions

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia has declared the Romanian Embassy's assistant defence attache in Moscow persona non grata. The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that this is in response to Romania's decision to expel a Russian diplomat from Romania, adding that the diplomat must leave the country within 72 hours.
Sputnik
"On 11 May, Romanian Ambassador to Russia, Cristian Istrate, was invited to the Russian Foreign Ministry, where he was handed a note from the ministry declaring Captain Iliescu, aide to military attache at the Romanian Embassy, persona non grata. The said officer was ordered to leave the territory of Russia within 72 hours," the statement says.

The statement added that the step had been taken in response to the fact that an aide to the Russian military attache in Romania, Alexey Grishaev, had been declared persona non grata on 26 April. Romania's ministry explained that Grishaev's actions "contravene the provisions of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations", but did not specify what activities they considered as breaching the convention.

Moscow slammed the expulsion as an "unfriendly move" and vowed to respond in kind.

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