NATO is downsizing the Russian delegation to the US-led defense alliance, cutting the maximum staff allowed to 30.
NATO deputy spokeswoman Carmen Romero said Friday the new ceiling on personnel from NATO partner countries applies to all 41 nations concerned.
However, Russia is believed to be the only nation whose delegation, now around 50, tops that limit.
Romero said the new staff limits, to go into effect over the next nine months, are a "practical measure" not aimed at Russia, whose relations with NATO have deteriorated since the Kremlin's 2014 annexation of Crimea. She said Russia's ambassador and three other delegation members will continue to enjoy unescorted access to NATO premises.
A move by NATO to cap the size of Russia's diplomatic mission at the alliance's Brussels headquarters has echoes of the Cold War, RIA news agency quoted Russian Foreign Ministry Alexei Meshkov as saying on Friday.
"This decision is very strange and smacks strongly of the Cold War era," he said, referring to a decision that is part of moves by NATO to limit the size of other diplomatic missions at its headquarters as well.
In 2009, NATO expelled two Russian diplomats from its Brussels headquarters over accusations of espionage.
*This story was edited by Ahram Online.
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