DESPITE ALL OBSTACLES, MOLDOVA'S RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA WILL BE FURTHER DEVELOPING - PRESIDENT DODON

Moldovan President Igor Dodon says he is totally sure that Moldova's relations with the Russian Federation will be developing further despite all the obstacles being put intentionally by the incumbent ruling coalition in the person of the Moldovan Parliament and Government.

Commenting on his Facebook page on the results of his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin that took place in Sochi (Russia) on Tuesday evening, Dodon wrote that he had once again thanked the Russian leader for a number of important decisions the Russian side had taken to facilitate Moldovan exports to the Russian market and to promote the migration amnesty for Moldovan gastarbeiters working in Russia.

"In the first 8 months of this year, Moldovan exports to Russia grew up several-fold on some positions. We haven't seen such a growth of trade turnover for last 10 years or so. And tens of thousand Moldova citizens have availed themselves of the migration amnesty", wrote Igor Dodon.

"I expressed our strong interest to further develop cooperation with the Russian Federation within the framework of the Commonwealth of Independent States [CIS] and other international organizations. I reiterated the importance for Moldova to receive the observer status in the Eurasian Economic Union", wrote the Moldovan President.

In his words, far from all representatives of the Moldovan political elite are happy about such a development and improvement of the Moldo-Russian relations and strategic partnership.

"The Government and the parliamentary majority, controlled by Western countries, are doing their utmost to bridle the developing relations between Moldova and Russia. I stated in Sochi that I categorically condemn any anti-Russia demarches by the Moldovan authorities, such as e.g. deportations of Russian officials, diplomats, journalists and artists from Moldova, the anti-Russia propaganda waged by the Moldovan public media, and other", stated the Moldovan President.

Igor Dodon assured President Putin that he would never sign even a single anti-Russia law, even if the parliamentary majority votes for it for a second time.

"This pertains, in particular, to the bill on banning the retransmission of Russian news and information-analytical programs in Moldova", wrote Igor Dodon.

"I requested the Russian President to support Moldova's application for receiving the observer status in the Eurasian Economic Union. I also asked Mr. Putin to broaden the list of Moldovan enterprises permitted to export to the Russian market, and to grant the migration amnesty to those Moldova citizens whose violations fall under Article 27 of the Federal Law #114", wrote Dodon.

The Moldovan President also wrote: "We held a very good meeting. It was really a nice friendly conversation. We have discussed all the questions we had determined previously, and took decisions on them, and we have outlined new cooperation directions".

The meeting was organized on the sidelines of the Sochi Summit of the CIS Heads of State that began in the southern Russian city on Wednesday morning. But Dodon will remain in Sochi for one more day, and on Thursday evening he will hold a meeting with the representatives of the Moldovan diaspora in that region of Russia.

In his turn, Vladimir Putin thanked President Igor Dodon "for the actions you do to normalize our bilateral relations".

"We highly appreciate your efforts to normalize the Russia-Moldova relations. We can see that this process is advancing with hardships. We support your efforts. We want Moldova citizens to see these efforts and to support the forces that work for the normalization of the relations", said Vladimir Putin.