File photo: CGTN

MOSCOW -- The Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday declared two employees of the German Embassy in Russia "personae non gratae" and demanded they leave Russia within seven days in retaliation for Germany's expulsion of two Russian diplomats earlier this month.

German Ambassador to Russia Geza Andreas von Geyr was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry and received a note about the expulsion of the German diplomats.

The Russian side protested against the "groundless decision" of the German Federal Foreign Office on Dec 4 to expel two members of staff at the Russian embassy as "the Russian authorities have not cooperated sufficiently" in the investigations into the murder of a Georgian national.

Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, 40, a Georgian male of Chechen descent, was killed in a Berlin park on Aug 23.

On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin denied knowledge of any Russian involvement in the incident, but said that the man was wanted by police for murdering at least 98 people and organizing a terrorist attack in the Moscow metro.

On Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow hopes that the expulsion of the two German diplomats will not affect "constructive dialogue" between Russia and Germany.

He said that many people involved in deadly terror attacks in Russia are hiding in Europe and Russian law enforcement officers are ready to assist German investigators in the probe into the death of Khangoshvili.

In March 2018, Britain expelled 23 Russian diplomats, alleging that Moscow was behind the poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the British city of Salisbury.

In the wake of London's move, more than 20 Western countries, including the United States, decided to expel staff of Russian diplomatic missions.

Russia has repeatedly denied any involvement in the incident and launched a tit-for-tat retaliation in a rare and massive diplomatic war.