Moldova PM Says Russia Troops Must Leave Transnistria To Solve Crisis

Moldova PM says Russia troops must leave Transnistria to solve crisis

Moldova's prime minister told AFP on Wednesday the international community is ready to offer gas to end the energy crisis in Transnistria but a lasting solution hinges on Russia withdrawing its troops from the separatist region

Davos, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Jan, 2025) Moldova's prime minister told AFP on Wednesday the international community is ready to offer gas to end the energy crisis in Transnistria but a lasting solution hinges on Russia withdrawing its troops from the separatist region.

In an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Prime Minister Dorin Recean accused Russia of trying to create instability in Moldova in order to see a pro-Moscow government emerge from parliamentary elections due later this year.

Russia energy firm Gazprom halted gas supplies to Transnistria on January 1 over a debt dispute with the pro-EU Moldovan government, leaving the 400,000 residents there without any heating or hot water.

Internationally recognised as part of Moldova, Transnistria declared independence at the end of the Soviet Union and has been reliant on Moscow's financial support ever since but receives Russian gas via Moldova.

Russia has around 1,500 troops stationed in the breakaway region, which sits between Ukraine and Moldova.

"This gas and energy crisis altogether in the Transnistria region is meant to create a security crisis in Moldova, all of Moldova and also in the region," Recean told AFP.

Recean said he would hold talks with European Union leaders in Davos on "how we together shall overcome this aggression of Russia against Moldova".

He said the solution to the crisis is for authorities in Transnistria to accept gas and coal from the international community or for Gazprom to resume deliveries.

"So far they don't accept it," Recean said, referring to energy deliveries from the international community. "But we are working on it."

"What is very important to mention is that these kinds of scenarios can happen together with replacing the current so-called peacekeeping mission, where the Russian military are participating, with a UN-led civilian peacekeeping mission," he said.