Two Irish diplomats have been asked to leave the Irish Embassy in Moscow, this according to the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs.
The move follows the Irish government's decision to send back to Russia four staff members at the Russian Embassy in Dublin for activities not in accordance with their diplomatic status.
Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Coveney, said there was no justification for the retaliatory action by Moscow.
In a statement Coveney said: "The Ambassador of Ireland to the Russian Federation was summoned to the Foreign Ministry in Moscow this afternoon and informed that two diplomats from our Embassy in Moscow have been asked to leave. There is no justification for the taking of this measure.
"The staff at the Embassy of Ireland in Moscow do not have, nor are engaged in, any duties or functions which are incompatible with their diplomatic status.
"This decision to reduce the size of our relatively small Embassy in Moscow will significantly reduce our ability to provide services to our citizens in Russia and to maintain diplomatic channels of communication with the Russian Federation."
