 Despite later declarations by the Romanian prime minister that the military occupation was made with the consent of the Bessarabian government, the intervention was met with protest by the locals, notably by Ion Inculeț, president of "Sfatul Țării", and Pantelimon Erhan, head of the provisional Moldavian executive.The executive even authorised the badly organised Moldavian militia to resist the Romanian advance, although with little success.In the wake of the intervention, Soviet Russia broke off diplomatic relations with Romania and confiscated the Romanian Treasure, at the time stored in Moscow for safekeeping.