MOSCOW, Russia — Tuesday, Russia reacted angrily to the Moldovan president’s claims that Moscow was trying to topple her government. Russia said that Moldovan authorities were trying to take attention away from the country’s own problems.
Moldovan President Maia Sandu said on Monday that the alleged Russian plot called for attacks on government buildings, hostage-takings, and other violent actions by saboteurs to put the country “at the disposal of Russia” and derail its hopes of joining the European Union.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, responded on Tuesday, calling Sandu’s claims “absolutely unfounded and unsubstantiated.”
“They are constructed in the spirit of classical techniques that are frequently used by the United States, other Western countries, and Ukraine,” Zakharova explained. “First, accusations are made based on allegedly classified intelligence information that cannot be verified, and they are then used to justify their illegal actions.”
Ukraine Caught Russia Making Plans
Sandu’s claim comes just a week after Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that his country had caught Russian secret service plans to destroy Moldova. Later, Moldovan intelligence officials confirmed the allegations.
Zakharova claimed that Ukrainian authorities made up the story about a rumored Russian plot to destabilize Moldova to provoke it into a conflict with Russia. She claimed that Moldovan authorities used “the myth of a Russian threat to distract Moldovan citizens’ attention from internal problems resulting from the current administration’s disastrous social-economic course and to step up the fight against dissent and political opponents.”
Zakharova insisted that Russia is not a threat to Moldova and expressed hope for mutually beneficial cooperation.
Moldova Saught Ties To Western Countries
Moldova, a former Soviet republic of about 2.6 million people, has sought closer ties with its Western partners since Russian troops entered Ukraine nearly a year ago. On the same day as Ukraine, it was granted EU membership candidate status last June.
In December, Moldova’s national intelligence agency warned that Russia was planning a new offensive to make a land route from southern Ukraine to Transnistria, a breakaway region of Moldova that Moscow supports but is not a part of Moldova.
Transnistria declared independence after a civil war in 1992 but is not recognized by most countries. It stretches for about 400 kilometers (250 miles) from the Dniester River’s eastern bank to the country’s border with Ukraine. Russia has approximately 1,500 troops serving as “peacekeepers” in the breakaway region.
SOURCE – (AP)
