MOSCOW, June 26. /TASS/. The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Moldova's Ambassador to Moscow Lilian Darii to protest the detention of Russian diplomatic couriers at Chisinau airport, citing violations of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the ministry said in a statement.

TASS has compiled key details on the incident.

Russian MFA summons Moldovan envoy

- On June 26, the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Moldova's Ambassador to Moscow Lilian Darii over Chisinau’s blatant breach of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the ministry stated.

- A strong protest was lodged with the envoy and a verbal note was handed over.

- A gross violation of Article 27 of the 1961 Vienna Convention was pointed out to Darii, which stipulates that diplomatic couriers "enjoy personal inviolability and shall not be subject to any form of arrest or detention," while diplomatic correspondence may not be "opened or detained," the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed.

Courier detention

- The Russian Foreign Ministry reported on Thursday that its diplomatic couriers had been detained for several hours at Chisinau airport.

- The Russian Embassy demanded that Moldova release the couriers detained at the airport and grant them consular access.

- The Embassy noted that Russian diplomats in Moldova were denied access to a restricted airport area to provide consular assistance to Foreign Ministry officials who had arrived in Chisinau.

- As a result, the couriers were unable to enter the country and were forced to return, despite Moldova having been notified in advance of their arrival.

- Moldovan authorities demanded that diplomatic documents and mobile phones be handed over for inspection, Russian presidential adviser and St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) organizing committee executive secretary Anton Kobyakov said.

- Moldova’s detention of the couriers was described as a provocation and a clear violation of international law, he emphasized.