Russia has declared the Romanian consul general in St Petersburg persona non grata and announced the closure of the Romanian consular office there in a tit-for-tat move.
The foreign ministry said in a statement that it summoned the Romanian ambassador to Russia, Cristian Istrate, earlier on Thursday to inform him of the decision.
"On June 25, Romanian ambassador to the Russian Federation Cristian Istrate was summoned to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he was handed a note from the ministry declaring the Consul General of Romania in St Petersburg persona non grata and stating the decision to close the Romanian consular office in St Petersburg," the ministry said in a statement.
The foreign service emphasised that the measure was taken in response to Bucharest's withdrawal of consent for the operation of the Russian Consulate General in Constanta and the declaration of its head persona non grata.
The Russian Consulate General in the Romanian city of Constanta was closed due to an incident at the end of May 2026, when a drone fell on a residential building in the city of Galați, injuring two people.
Bucharest blamed Russia for the incident, declared Russian Consul General in Constanta Andrey Kosilin persona non grata, and decided to close the consulate in the city.
The Russian side called these accusations unsubstantiated and described the incident as merely a pretext for a long-planned step to close the diplomatic mission.
