Moscow will expel 45 Polish diplomats, Russia's Foreign Ministry said Friday, in a tit-for-tat move after Warsaw expelled the same number of Russian diplomats over espionage charges last month.
The ministry said it summoned the Polish ambassador in Moscow to "strongly protest against the unjustified" expulsion of Russian diplomats from Poland on March 23.
"The ambassador was told that we regard this step as confirmation of Warsaw's conscious desire to completely destroy bilateral relations," the ministry added.
"The blame for that lies wholly with the Polish side."
The ministry declared "persona non grata" for 45 employees of the Polish Embassy in Russia and of Polish consulates in the cities of Irkutsk, Kaliningrad and Saint Petersburg "as a response to Poland's unfriendly actions."
The expelled diplomats must leave Russia by April 13.
