Kremlin says France's detention of govt employee 'aggravates' relations

Moscow on Wednesday slammed France and summoned its ambassador after it said a Russian foreign ministry employee had been detained at a Paris airport on Sunday as he tried to enter the country.

"In the course of the conversation, the Russian foreign ministry issued a strong protest to the head of the French embassy. As a result of the demarche, our colleague was eventually allowed to enter the country," Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a briefing.

The Kremlin blasted France's temporary detention of the Russian employee as "totally unacceptable" and said it would "further aggravate" ties between Moscow and Paris.

"They are totally unacceptable actions... it further aggravates our already damaged bilateral relations," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.