AT A MEETING WITH THE DEFENSE MINISTER OF THE NETHERLANDS, MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT MAIA SANDU CALLED ON PARTNERS TO INCREASE AID TO UKRAINE

At a meeting with the Minister of Defense of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Kajsa Ollongren, President Maia Sandu called on partners to increase aid to Ukraine. According to the president's press service, the president noted “the need to support Ukraine to ensure peace in the Republic of Moldova and on the European continent.”

“Referring to the fact that a Russian missile destroyed the largest power plant in the Kiev region, I emphasized the urgent need to increase the number of air defense systems for Ukraine,” Maia Sandu reported on social media.

And Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, following the conclusion of the Three Seas Initiative summit in Vilnius, in which Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean also participated, once again appealed for assistance in the form of air defense assets for Ukraine.

On Friday morning, it became known that Russia had launched missile strikes on the largest gas storage facility in the Lviv region, where about 50% of Ukraine's gas reserves are stored. Ukrainian authorities reported serious damage to surface infrastructure, but the storage itself was not damaged as it is located more than 50 meters underground and heavily fortified. It is currently unknown whether the Moldovan company Energocom stored gas in this facility or not.

The day before, the Defense Ministers of Moldova and the Netherlands signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at strengthening partnership between the two agencies.

Kajsa Ollongren announced that the Netherlands had decided to provide financial support in the amount of 4 million euros to enhance the resilience of Moldova's state institutions.