MOSCOW, August 18. /TASS/. The Moldovan ambassador to Moscow, Lilian Darii, was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday where he was informed of Moscow’s decision to ban entry to a number of Moldovan officials in response to Chisinau’s move to drastically reduce the number of Russian diplomats in Moldova, Russia’s diplomatic agency said in a statement.
"It was emphasized that the unfriendly step would further damage the relationship between Russia and Moldova, which is already facing a deep crisis amid Moldova’s actions," the ministry said. "Darii was told that the Russian Federation will ban entry to a number of Moldovan officials as an asymmetrical response," it added.
Earlier, the Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration informed Russian Ambassador Oleg Vasnetsov of the need to reduce embassy staff to ten diplomatic staff members and 15 administrative and technical personnel. Thus, their number will correspond to the number of employees at the Moldovan embassy in Moscow. Chisinau attributed its decision to multiple purportedly unfriendly actions by Russia and alleged attempts to destabilize Moldova’s domestic political situation.
Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said that Moldova’s move to cut the staff of the Russian diplomatic mission represents a continuation of the current Moldovan leadership’s unfriendly stance with regard to Russia. He cautioned that such steps are usually reciprocated, as per diplomatic practice.