MOSCOW, February 3. /TASS/. Russia is considering retaliation against Austria’s decision to declare four Russian diplomats as personae non-gratae, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Yevgeny Ivanov told TASS on Friday. He did not specify whether the retaliatory measures would be identical or asymmetrical.

"Unequivocally there will be a retaliation. It is being considered at the moment," Ivanov said.

He stressed that Moscow regarded Vienna's decision as "another unfriendly step."

On Thursday, the Austrian Foreign Ministry announced that four Russian diplomats had been declared personae non gratae.

The ministry claims that two diplomats from the Russian embassy had allegedly "committed actions incompatible with their diplomatic status." Also, two diplomats from Russia’s permanent UN mission "took actions incompatible with the Headquarters Agreement," the ministry argued. They were ordered to leave Austria by February 8.