ST. PETERSBURG, July 24. /TASS/. Romania’s consulate general closed in St. Petersburg on Friday, with its employees having vacated the building, a TASS correspondent reported.

TASS has learned that consulate staff moved out of the building, taking property from it on Friday morning. Romanian and EU flags as well as the plate with the name of organization on it above the entrance to the building have been removed, with parking posts only carrying the signs of the Romanian consulate general left in front of the building.

News came on June 25 that Russia decided to close its consulate general in its second-largest city and declared the Romanian consul general persona non grata as a response measure. The Russian Foreign Ministry explained that the measure came in response to what it called "Bucharest’s unwarranted withdrawal of consent for the operation of Russia’s consulate general in Constanta and Romania’s move to declare the head of the office persona non grata."