Elena Teslova
05 March 2025•Update: 05 March 2025
MOSCOW
The Russian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday handed a diplomatic note to Moldovan Ambassador to Moscow Lilian Darius, requesting an official explanation as to why Moldovan President Maia Sandu has yet to accept the credentials of Russian Ambassador to Chisinau Oleg Ozerov.
"On March 5, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Moldova to the Russian Federation, Lilian Darius, was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry. The head of the Moldovan diplomatic mission was informed of Russia’s perplexity over the Moldovan president’s failure to accept the credentials of Oleg Borisovich Ozerov, who arrived in the country in October 2024," the ministry said in a statement published on its website.
“This delay constitutes a violation of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations,” the statement added.
In this regard, the Moldovan ambassador was presented with a copy of the Vienna Convention and issued a note verbale demanding clarification for what Russia sees as a breach of its provisions, particularly regarding the uniformity of diplomatic practices in the accreditation of foreign envoys, the ministry said.
At the end of February, Ambassador Ozerov stated that he was "still waiting for this procedure to take place."
According to him, Moldova granted formal consent for serving as the Russian envoy after he arrived in the country on October 4, 2024, and presented copies of his credentials on October 24, receiving accreditation.
Under international law, this means the ambassador is fully authorized to carry out his duties.
However, the formal acceptance of his credentials by the Moldovan president has yet to occur.
