Russia declared a worker of the Moldovan embassy in Moscow persona non grata and closed the entry for several Moldovan officials for anti-Russian statements.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia said that on April 25, they summoned the Ambassador of Moldova to the Russian Federation, Lilian Darii, and handed over a relevant note with "strong protest" in connection with "Chisinau's official unfriendly steps towards Russia."

"In addition, the head of the Moldovan diplomatic mission was informed about the decision to close the entry to the Russian Federation of several officials of the Republic of Moldova in response to their regular anti-Russian statements, as well as the accession of Chisinau to the EU sanctions lists, whose defendants are citizens of the Russian Federation," Russia's MFA statement reads.

The Russian side declared the worker of the Moldovan embassy in Russia persona non grata in a retaliatory move. On April 19, Moldovan Foreign Minister announced the country's decision to declare a Russian diplomat persona non grata (Ukr).

According to the press secretary of the government, Daniel Vodă, this decision resulted from the actions of the Russian embassy employees against the border guards (Ukr), who prohibited the entry into Moldova of the head of the Russian Republic of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov.