Moscow vows to respond to Russian diplomats' expulsion from Norway

Norway's declaration as persona non grata of 15 employees of the Russian embassy in the country won’t be left unanswered, the Russian Foreign Ministry has said.

"The Russian Federation will give an appropriate response," the ministry said in a statement, according to TASS.

Earlier, Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt said Oslo wanted to preserve diplomatic relations with Moscow amid the expulsion of 15 Russian diplomats. She said Oslo wants Moscow to "still have a functioning diplomatic mission in Norway". The Norwegian Foreign Ministry also said it would not issue visas to employees of Russian intelligence services.