U.S. general Philip M. Breedlove, a NATO supreme commander 2013-2016, said that the Republic of Moldova is in the middle of one of the wars that is being waged by the President of Russia Vladimir Putin, besides those in Ukraine and Georgia. In the case of Moldova, it is a hybrid war, he noted, being quoted by IPN.
“Let’s remember the Black Sea Security Conference that was held in April in Bucharest, in which Moldova took part with a large delegation and clearly explained that the country is under Russia’s attack in all the gray zones, subsumed under the NATO notion of hybrid war. And they asked for help and for suggestions how to react. Moldova is under the extreme pressure of Russia,” general Breedlove stated in an interview for RFE/RL’s Moldovan Service.
The former NATO supreme commander said that huge political pressure, corruption and nationwide embezzlement are seen in Georgia and all these were planned to cause the government’s fall. “In Ukraine, there is an ordinary war. And now in Moldova, there is a hybrid attack on the whole national power system. These are the wars, plural form, of Mister Putin, and Moldova is in the center of one of these wars,” noted Philip Breedlove.
In an interview with RFE/RL’s Moldovan Service, the general analyzes the situation in the Black Sea that is abandoned, as he considers, by NATO and the United States, the extremely tense situation on the Danube, where Russia felt “encouraged” to hit in the immediate vicinity of Romania, a NATO country, and the way in which the war in Ukraine can end – “exactly as the Western leaders decide” as these can choose to help Ukraine to win or can push it towards a defeat on the battlefield or at the negotiating table.
Philip Breedlove said the Black Sea is now a very important maritime area that is militarily dominated by Russia because NATO and the U.S. actually withdrew from the air and maritime spaces.
According to him, the Russian attacks on the Ukrainian ports situated on the Danube, in the immediate vicinity or Romania, show that Moscow is disposed to take risks, while the Western allies didn’t manage “to discourage it”.
In another development, the general said that Ukraine managed to take over and Russia will start to retreat. The war in Ukraine will end “exactly as the Western leaders decide”, depending on the military support they are disposed to offer to Kyiv.
