Russia said on Thursday it was ordering a Romanian diplomat to leave the country in response to the expulsion of one of its diplomats from Bucharest.

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Romania, like other European Union member states, was designated an "unfriendly country" by Moscow after it imposed sanctions in retaliation for Russia's special military operation in Ukraine.

Earlier this year, Russia and EU countries expelled hundreds of each other's diplomats in the wake of the Feb 24 operation.

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