Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that on July 21, Moldova’s Ambassador to Russia, Lilian Darii, was summoned to the Foreign Ministry, where he was presented with a strong protest over what Moscow described as serious violations of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
The diplomatic dispute centers on two incidents involving employees and vehicles of the Russian Embassy in Moldova.
The first occurred on July 19 in Chișinău, where Moldovan police stopped an embassy bus. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, officers removed the vehicle’s diplomatic license plates and allegedly used force and threatened embassy personnel with detention. Moscow also claims that its request for a representative of Moldova’s Foreign Ministry to come to the scene and clarify the situation was ignored.
The second incident reportedly took place during the night of July 20–21 at the Leușeni border crossing. Russian embassy staff transporting diplomatic cargo were allegedly held at the border for more than four hours without legal justification.
During the meeting in Moscow, Ambassador Darii was informed that Russia considers these actions to be a serious breach of the Vienna Convention. The Russian side emphasized that the receiving state is obligated to provide diplomatic missions with all necessary conditions to perform their functions and to guarantee diplomats freedom of movement within its territory.
“Ambassador Lilian Darii was informed of the gross violation of Article 27 of the 1961 Vienna Convention, according to which diplomatic couriers enjoy personal inviolability and shall not be liable to any form of arrest or detention, while diplomatic mail shall neither be opened nor detained,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in its statement.
Russia stated that it reserves the right to take reciprocal measures.
This is not the first diplomatic dispute between the two countries in recent months. At the end of June, the Russian Foreign Ministry also summoned Moldova’s ambassador following the alleged detention of Russian diplomatic couriers at Chișinău International Airport. According to Moscow, the diplomats were forced to return to Russia without completing their official mission.
At the time of publication, the Moldovan authorities had not issued an official response regarding the latest incidents.
However, after similar accusations in June, Moldova’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected Russia’s claims, stating that allegations of violations of international law were unfounded. Chișinău maintained that Moldovan authorities had acted fully in accordance with their international obligations and accused the Russian side of selectively interpreting international legal norms.
