Russia does not intend to downgrade diplomatic relations with Germany despite Berlin's announced closure of the Russian consulate in Bonn, the Kremlin said on Thursday.
Moscow would not initiate any reduction in diplomatic ties, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state television on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.
Such a step could potentially involve Moscow and Berlin recalling their respective ambassadors.
The Russian Foreign Ministry had earlier said that downgrading relations was among the possible responses to punitive measures announced by Germany following the discovery of an explosives-laden drone that failed to detonate at Leipzig/Halle Airport in early August.
Russia denies any involvement with the drone, which was found near a Ukrainian cargo plane.
Peskov again criticized the measures announced by the German government on Tuesday, which include the closure of the Russian consulate in Bonn and the Russian House cultural centre in Berlin.
He called the planned closure of the consulate "absurd" given what he said was Germany's failure to present evidence of Russian responsibility.
Russia said earlier on Thursday that it would close branches of Germany's Goethe-Institut cultural institute in retaliation for the closure of the Russian House.
Peskov accused Chancellor Friedrich Merz of seeking to score domestic political points by taking clumsy and "quasi-drastic steps" against Russia.
"That is hardly going to save him from his political fate," Peskov said.
He also criticized Germany's response to the explosions in 2022 that damaged the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines between Russia and Germany.
Peskov said Ukrainians had been identified as suspects in the blasts and investigations were under way, but that Germany had imposed no punitive measures against Ukraine.
"So far, everyone who has blown up something German in recent years has been Ukrainian, caught by the Germans themselves," Peskov said.
"Have they closed even a single Ukrainian consulate general against the backdrop of the ongoing court proceedings? No, they have not. Have they closed any Ukrainian cultural centres? No," he added.
Germany is the largest European supporter of Ukraine in its defence against Russia's full-scale invasion, launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin in February 2022.