Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksei Meshkov said April 10 NATO's decision to reduce the number of Russian representatives at the alliance "smacks of a Cold War spirit."
NATO deputy spokeswoman Carmen Romero announced April 10 that all the delegations from the 41 NATO partner countries would be allowed to have a maximum staff of 30 representatives.
Russia is believed to be the only nation whose delegation to NATO is as high as 50.
Romero said the new staff limits were a practical measure, not aimed at Russia and that Russia's ambassador and three other delegation members would continue to have unescorted access to NATO premises.
Relations between NATO and Russia are at the lowest point since the Cold War due to Russia's illegal annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and the Kremlin's support for pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.