MOSCOW, December 23. /TASS/. Russia declared two staff members of Colombia’s embassy in Moscow personae non gratae in a tit-for-tat move following the expulsion of two Russian diplomats from Colombia, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

"The ambassador [of Colombia in Moscow] was informed that given the reciprocity principle, the Russian side declares personae non gratae two staff members of the Colombian diplomatic mission in Moscow," the Foreign Ministry said.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry summoned Colombian Ambassador to Moscow Alfonso Pedro Lazaro Lopez Caballero to protest against the expulsion of two Russian diplomats from the country, the ministry clarified.

"The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Colombian Ambassador Alfonso Lopez Caballero on December 22 to protest against Colombia’s groundless decision to expel two diplomats from the Russian embassy in Bogota. The move runs counter to the traditionally friendly and mutually respectful relations between Russia and Colombia," the statement reads.

Earlier, the head of Colombia’s migration service, Juan Francisco Espinosa Palacios, said two staff members of the Russian embassy left the country on December 8. According to the Foreign Ministry of Colombia, their actions violated the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.