MOSCOW, April 25. /TASS/. The Russian side retaliates by declaring a Moldovan embassy employee persona non grata. Moldovan ambassador to Moscow, Lilian Darii, was handed a corresponding note to that effect, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement distributed on Tuesday.

"On April 25, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Moldova to the Russian Federation, Lilian Darii, was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry. The ambassador was strongly protested in connection with the continuous unfriendly steps of the official Chisinau towards Russia. Darii was handed a ministry note saying that as a retaliation to the April 19 unjustified decision of the Moldovan authorities to declare a Russian embassy employee persona non grata, the Russian side declares a Moldovan embassy employee persona non grata," the ministry pointed out.

As the diplomats stressed, the head of the Moldovan diplomatic mission was informed about the decision to close entry to Russia for several Moldovan officials in connection with "their regular anti-Russian statements, as well as Chisinau’s joining the EU sanctions list, which includes Russian citizens."