MOSCOW. March 31 (Interfax) - Russia will respond to Moldova's decision to expel three Russian diplomats from the country, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.
"The mentioned hostile steps taken by the Moldovan leadership will not remain without an appropriate tough response from the Russian side," Zakharova said in a statement published on the Russian Foreign Ministry's website on Monday.
She said the decision to expel these diplomats was not justified and "is part of Chisinau's anti-Russian policy."
"The Russian embassy in Chisinau is acting in strict compliance with the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961 and is not interfering in the internal affairs of the Republic of Moldova," Zakharova said.
Moldova's Information and Security Service Director Alexandru Musteata said earlier on Monday that Moldovan lawmaker Alexandru Nesterovski, who was convicted of corruption, was taken to Transdniestria with the assistance of diplomats from the Russian embassy in Chisinau.
Later that day, Russian Ambassador to the country Oleg Ozerov was summoned to the Moldovan Foreign Ministry. He was handed a note under which the Moldovan Foreign Ministry declared three Russian diplomats personae non gratae.