ZAGREB, June 10. /TASS/. North Macedonia’s Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani thinks that the expulsion of a North Macedonian diplomat from Russia will harm relations between both states, he said on his Twitter on Thursday.

"Regrets for the unjustified decision of @mfa_russia [the Russian Foreign Ministry], merely a retaliatory political decision; this will undoubtedly have negative influence on the bilateral relations between the Republic of North Macedonia and the Russian Federation," he wrote.

Moscow has declared a North Macedonian embassy official persona non grata as a measure of retaliation, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday. The Russian Foreign Ministry invited North Macedonia’s Charge d'Affaires in Russia Olivera Chaushevska-Dimovska to hand her a note declaring a North Macedonian embassy official persona non grata.

The North Macedonian Foreign Ministry earlier confirmed the expulsion of a Russian diplomat. The ministry summoned Russian Ambassador Sergey Bazdnikin to hand him a note saying that the diplomat was to leave the country within seven days. The Russian Foreign Ministry slammed the move as unfriendly, adding that Moscow would take retaliatory measures.