FOREIGN POLICY: RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN’S FIRST PRIORITY IS TO STOP MOLDOVA FROM JOINING THE EU AND INTEGRATING WITH THE WEST

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s first priority is to stop Moldova from joining the EU and integrating with the West. Foreign Policy magazine writes about it in the material "Ukraine’s war is killing another country" (by journalist Paul Hockenos).

"Russian President Vladimir Putin’s first priority is to stop Moldova from joining the EU and integrating with the West, especially since the EU boosted Moldova to candidate status shortly after the onset of the Russia-Ukraine war. But his aspirations may be far wider. Last week, Russia drew the ire of Moldovan authorities by setting up polling stations in Transnistria for its roughly 200,000 residents to vote in the Russian presidential elections held from March 15 to 17," the text reads.

It is noted that such a "move harks back to the initial steps taken to absorb occupied territories in Crimea and elsewhere in eastern Ukraine into Russia itself." The author also notes that "if there’s one thing that just about all of Moldova’s peoples agree upon, regardless of political ideology, it is that they have next to no agency to affect the fate of their country—and ultimately, the fate of their own futures."

In his opinion, the United States is aware of the threats posed by Russia's takeover of Moldova.

"The United States is obviously aware of this threat and upped its defense assistance to Moldova from 3 million dollars in 2022 to more than 30 million dollars today," the author notes.