Moscow has strongly rejected the Berlin court’s verdict which accused Russian of being behind a 2019 assassination of a man in Berlin’s Tiergarten park.

The Russian foreign ministry summoned the German ambassador on Monday to inform him about the diplomats’ expulsion in what it said was a “symmetrical response to the unfriendly decision by the German government.

The ministry warned that Russia will continue to respond in kind to any “potential confrontational moves by Berlin”.

It did not say when the German diplomats needed to leave Russia, according to Al-Jazeera English.

The Russia-West tensions have recently escalated over the Ukraine crisis.

On Monday, a Russian diplomat warned NATO should stop escalation to prevent a possible military response from Moscow.

KI