The ambassador of Russia to Romania is the official representative of the president and the government of the Russian Federation to the president and the government of Romania.
The ambassador and his staff work at large in the Russian embassy in Bucharest. There is a consulate general in Constanța. The current Russian ambassador to Romania is Vladimir Lipayev since June 2024.
History of diplomatic relations
Diplomatic relations between the regions that now constitute Romania and the Russian Federation date back to the medieval period. The Tsardom of Russia offered support for the Danubian Principalities during their struggle for independence from the Ottoman Empire. Moldavian ruler Stephen the Great concluded a military-political alliance with Russia in the fifteenth century, sealed by the marriage of his daughter Elena to Ivan the Young, the son and heir of Ivan III. Wallachian ruler Michael the Brave also advocated an alliance with Russia towards the end of the sixteenth century. Relations continued to be strengthened after the establishment of the Russian Empire, with the 1711 Treaty of Lutsk between Peter the Great and Moldovan leader Dimitrie Cantemir; and the establishment of permanent diplomatic relations between Wallachia and Russia during the 1688-1714 reign of Constantin Brâncoveanu.
In the nineteenth century, following the 1828-1829 Russo-Turkish War, Russia established a protectorate over the Danube principalities, with Count Pavel Kiselyov serving as plenipotentiary representative of the councils of Moldova and Wallachia between 1829 and 1834. Kiselyov oversaw various reforms to public administration, and the adoption of the Regulamentul Organic. Following the 1877–1878 Russo-Turkish War, which included the Romanian War of Independence and the defeat and expulsion of the Ottoman Empire, Russia recognised Romanian independence, and on 15 October 1878, Baron presented his credentials to the Romanian prince, and later king, Carol I. 15 October 1878 is now considered the official date for the establishment of Russian-Romanian diplomatic relations.
Diplomatic relations continued into the twentieth century, interrupted by the October Revolution in 1917. The Soviet Union and Romania maintained a bilateral dialogue, with Maxim Litvinov of the Soviet Union and Nicolae Titulescu of Romania co-operating on the signing of the 1933 London Convention on the Definition of Aggression. This was followed with the re-establishment of diplomatic relations on 9 June 1934. Relations were once more suspended on 22 June 1941 after the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, and remained so during most of the Second World War. They were re-established on 6 August 1945, after the defeat of the Axis powers, and between 20 and 24 August the mission was upgraded to the level of an embassy. During the Cold War Romania was a member of the Warsaw Pact, and with the dissolution of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991, the Russian Federation emerged as the Soviet Union's legal successor. The incumbent ambassador of the Soviet Union to Romania, , continued as representative of Russia until 1992.
List of representatives (1878–present) Russian Empire to Romania (1878–1917) NameTitleAppointmentTerminationNotesBaron Minister resident15 October 187831 January 1879Aleksandr YakobsonHead of mission20 February 18793 January 1881Envoy2 December 18803 June 1886Envoy3 June 18869 April 1891Nikolai FontonEnvoy9 April 189123 August 1902Mikhail von GiersEnvoy19021912Envoy19121913Envoy19131916Envoy19163 March 1917
Soviet Union to Romania (1934–1991) NameTitleAppointmentTerminationNotesDiplomatic representative3 November 19346 February 1938Anatoly LavrentievDiplomatic representative (before 9 May 1941)Envoy (after 9 May 1941)14 June 194022 June 1941Second World War – Diplomatic relations interrupted (1941–1945)Sergey KavtaradzeEnvoy (before August 1945)Ambassador (after August 1945)15 August 19457 July 1952Anatoly LavrentievAmbassador7 July 195217 July 1953Leonid MelnikovAmbassador28 July 19537 April 1955Alexei YepishevAmbassador14 August 195527 November 1960Ambassador27 November 196015 December 1965Ambassador15 December 196516 March 1971Ambassador16 March 197130 November 1982Yevgeny TyazhelnikovAmbassador27 December 19827 June 1990AmbassadorJune 199025 December 1991
Russian Federation to Romania (1991–present) NameTitleAppointmentTerminationNotesAmbassador25 December 199131 December 1992Ambassador31 December 19929 October 1997Ambassador9 October 199721 January 2002Ambassador21 January 200228 June 2006Aleksandr ChurilinAmbassador28 June 200615 December 2011Ambassador15 December 20117 June 2016Ambassador7 June 201612 April 2024Vladimir LipayevAmbassador20 June 2024present
References