France has declared two employees of Azerbaijan’s embassy persona non grata in a move of “reciprocity”, the Foreign Ministry, writes France24.

The ministry said in a statement it had summoned French ambassador Anne Boillon to express a “strong protest over the actions of two employees of the French Embassy”. Without providing further details, it said the two had been declared personae non grata and ordered to leave the country within 48 hours.

The move came amid tense relations between the countries as Baku has accused France of being biased towards Armenia during European-mediated peace talks with its arch-foe. In November, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev accused France of inciting conflicts in the Caucasus by arming Armenia.