ISTANBUL 

Romania has told Russia it must cut its embassy staff in the capital Bucharest to a level close to that of the country’s own diplomatic mission in Moscow, Romania's Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

“According to the decision of the Romanian authorities, the Russian Federation must reduce the number of positions in Romania by 51 positions – i.e. by 21 diplomatic positions and 30 technical-administrative staff positions,” a ministry statement said.

The statement said the choice of the positions to be reduced and the people to leave Romania will belong to Russia, within the limitations of each category.

“Thus, the total number of diplomatic and technical-administrative positions of the Russian Federation in Romania is reduced by 61%, and the effective number of personnel by 55.5%,” the statement added, saying the decision was taken in line with the Vienna Convention.

The decision, it said, “reflects the current level of bilateral relations, drastically reduced by Romania after the Russian Federation launched the war of aggression against Ukraine.”

Russia has at most 30 days to implement the decision, the statement said, warning that the accreditation of some personnel will be withdrawn if the deadline is not respected.

Moscow will give an “appropriate response” to Romania’s decision to reduce the size of the Russian Embassy in Bucharest, Russia’s state news agency TASS reported, citing Foreign Ministry sources.​​​​​​​