MOSCOW, May 11. /TASS/. An employee of the Romanian Embassy in Russia has been declared persona non grata in response to the expulsion of a Russian diplomat from Bucharest, the Russian Foreign Ministry informed on Tuesday.

"On May 11, Ambassador of Romania Cristian Istrate was summoned by the Russian Foreign Ministry, where he was given a note of the ministry declaring Captain G. Iliescu, aide to the military attache at the Romanian Embassy, persona non grata. The aforementioned employee must leave the territory of the Russian Federation within 72 hours. This step was taken by the Russian side in response to the unfounded declaration of an aide to the military attache at the Russian Embassy in Bucharest persona non grata on April 26," the statement says.

Earlier, the Romanian Foreign Ministry stated that the expelled Russian diplomat’s activities and actions "contradict the provisions of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.".