Ukraine tells Belarus to cut diplomatic staff in reciprocal move

LVIV, Ukraine - Ukraine's foreign ministry said on Thursday it had told Russia-allied Belarus to cut its diplomatic staff in Kyiv to five, responding to the expulsion of a dozen Ukrainian diplomats from Belarus a day earlier.

"We caution the Belarusian authorities that any further unfriendly steps towards Ukraine will receive a decisive response," the Ukrainian foreign ministry said in a statement.

Relations between the two countries have soured in the wake of the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine by Russia, which used Belarusian territory as a staging post for its attack.