Chisinau was worried about the Kremlin's intentions to seize the entire south of Ukraine and get closer to the borders of the unrecognized Transnistrian Republic.
On Friday, April 22, the Russian Ambassador was summoned to the Moldovan Foreign Ministry in protest against the statement of one of the Russian generals who are managing the war of conquest in Ukraine. Chisinau was worried about the assertion that Russian troops intend to take control of the southern part of Ukraine in order to reach Transnistria.
This is reported by the Romanian edition digi24.
General Rustam Minnekayev, deputy commander of Russia's Central Military District, said on Friday during a meeting with heads of military-industrial complex enterprises in Yekaterinburg that Russia wants to take Donbass and southern Ukraine under “full control.”
According to the Russian general , control over the southern part of Ukraine will allow, in particular, Russia to assist the pro-Russian separatists in Transnistria.
“Control of the south of Ukraine also means a corridor in Transnistria, where we also see cases of oppression of the Russian-speaking population,” said the Russian general .
According to the statement of the Moldovan Foreign Ministry, Chisinau expressed to the Russian ambassador “deep concern” about such statements by Minnekaev.
The Republic of Moldova, as stated in the message, “considers these statements unfounded and contrary to Russia's support for sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country.” The Foreign Ministry also reminded that “the Republic of Moldova is a neutral country” and called on Moscow to respect this principle.
Recall that earlier Moldova accused Russia of recruiting its citizens for the war against Ukraine. Probably, we are talking about the inhabitants of the so-called “Transnistria”.
