MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/. The Kremlin hopes for the continuity of Germany’s policy towards Russia following the election of Olaf Scholz as new federal chancellor, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media on Tuesday.

"We hope for the continuity of Germany’s policy towards Russia and for continuity in bilateral relations, which we hold in high esteem and are keen to develop," Peskov said, when asked if Moscow felt any concerns some tensions might develop in bilateral relations after the new chancellor had taken office.

The Kremlin hopes that Russian President Vladimir Putin may have contacts with Germany’s new chancellor, Olaf Scholz for a discussion of the diplomats’ expulsions.

"We hope that such contacts will take place," Peskov said, when asked if the Russian leader was going to discuss this affair with the German chancellor.

Earlier, Russia declared two staffers of the German embassy in Moscow as personae non-gratae in retaliation for Germany’s decision to expel two Russian diplomats following a Berlin court’s verdict pronounced in the Georgian national Zelimkhan Khangoshvili murder case.