Russia’s foreign ministry has said it is expelling four Austrian diplomats in a tit-for-tat move after Vienna expelled four Russian diplomats earlier this month.

In a statement, the Russian ministry said Austria had taken an “unfriendly and unjustified step” and was ruining its previous position as a respected, unbiased and neutral state.

The move comes after Austria’s foreign ministry said it was expelling four Russian diplomats for behaving in a manner inconsistent with international agreements, a reason often invoked in spying cases.

The move brought the total number of Russian diplomats Austria has expelled since 2020 to nine. Vienna has generally been more reluctant than many other western European countries to expel Russian envoys.