New Russian ambassador appointed to Romania
Vladimir Lipaev, former diplomatic envoy of Russia to Tallinn, was recently appointed as the new Russian ambassador to Romania.
Lipaev, who is replacing former ambassador Valeri Kuzmin, was expelled by the Estonian authorities in 2023 amidst a diplomatic conflict with Moscow, according to HotNews.
Born in 1959, the official worked for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 1981.
According to official records, he graduated from the Moscow Institute of International Relations and has held positions both in the Russian capital and abroad, including in Norway and Germany. He speaks English, German, and French.
Vladimir Lipaev was appointed ambassador to Estonia at the end of 2021. In 2023, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it had downgraded the level of diplomatic relations with Estonia and expelled the Estonian ambassador from the country. The official reason behind this move was the “reduction in the size of the Russian embassy in Tallinn.” The Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded in kind by expelling the Russian ambassador, Vladimir Lipaev.
The Russian Embassy in Bucharest announced last week that Valeri Kuzmin had completed his diplomatic mission and had definitively returned to Moscow. He had been appointed ambassador to Romania on June 7, 2016.
(Photo source: Russian Foreign Ministry on Facebook)