BUCHAREST, June 8. /TASS/. Romania’s demand to reduce the staff at Russia’s embassy in Bucharest by more than 50 employees is aimed at undermining relations between the two countries, Russian Ambassador to Romania Valery Kuzmin told TASS on Thursday, commenting on Bucharest’s move to downsize the Russian embassy.

"This is yet another move by the Romanian leadership aimed at disrupting inter-state relations between our countries," Kuzmin said. "And this time it is evident that Bucharest is acting at the behest and in line with the mainstream of the NATO aggressive bloc."

The Romanian Foreign Ministry released a statement on Thursday, announcing that Bucharest had decided to cut the staff at the Russian embassy by more than 50 employees within 30 days.

The statement said that the Russian ambassador to Bucharest was notified on June 8, 2023 that "the Romanian authorities have decided to reduce the number of diplomats as well as technical and administrative staff at the Russian mission to Romania to a figure comparable to the diplomats as well as technical and administrative staff at the Romanian mission to Russia."

According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry, the measure was taken in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and "reflects the current level of bilateral relations, drastically downgraded by Romania" after the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine.

"The Russian side was also informed that it has 30 days to implement the Romanian side’s decision," the statement said.