Japan's Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa says the government ordered a Russian diplomat to leave the country by October 10 to protest the expulsion of a Japanese consul in Russia.

Hayashi told reporters that Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Mori Takeo on Tuesday summoned Russia's ambassador to Japan, Mikhail Galuzin. Mori declared the consul at the Russian Consulate General in Sapporo a persona non grata.

Last month, Russia's Federal Security Service detained a Japanese consul in Vladivostok for alleged espionage.
The Russian government declared the diplomat a persona non grata and ordered him to leave the country.

Hayashi told reporters that the detention of the consul is an obvious and serious violation of international laws. He called the Russian action unbelievable and absolutely unacceptable.