MOSCOW — The Russian authorities decided Thursday to close the consulates general of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in Saint Petersburg and Pskov, and to consider their staff persona non grata.

In a statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that it had summoned the ambassadors of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania accredited to Moscow and informed them that it had decided "based on reciprocity" to close the consulates of the three countries in the cities of Saint Petersburg and Pskov.

The statement urged the employees of the consulates of the three countries in Russia to leave the Russian territory, after it considered them persona non grata.

Russia had expelled a number of French, British, Dutch, Belgian, Bulgarian and other diplomats on the basis of reciprocity in one of the worst diplomatic crises between Russia and Western countries. — Agencies