Russia does not like any of the integration perspectives of Moldova and Ukraine and other countries of the post-Soviet area that Moscow considers its sphere of influence, while the close Moldovan-Ukrainian bilateral relations are regarded by the Russian Federation as a risk. That’s why, by all possible means, primarily information ones, it tries to destabilize and create chaos in these states. The opinions were stated in a roundtable meeting entitled “Russian influence on relations of Ukraine and Moldova”, IPN reports.
According to Dmitry Levus, of the public initiative “Yantarnyi Puti” (“Amber Path”), the methods used by the Russian Federation to influence the countries of the post-Soviet area are very different. “On the one hand, this shows that Moscow experiences a serious psychological dependence and cannot appropriately assess the situation in the world and realize that each country has the right to live as they want. On the other hand, this is a problem as, at historical level, Moscow lost. But we yet live here and now and the methods applied now lead to losses of human lives and to other problems,” stated Dmitry Levus. He noted that one of the influence methods is the permanent wish of Moscow to corrupt the elites of a particular country and to later influence the masses by these elites.
Director of the Accent Charitable Foundation Oleg Lisnii said Russia wants to create a USSR 2. “Owing to this gruesome slogan of Putin, Moldova and Ukraine find themselves in this risk area”, Russia banking on its influence through the Transnistrian region in Moldova.
Valeriu Pașa, WatchDog.md expert, said Russia perceives the region where Moldova is situated in accordance with its priorities. Russia follows the relations between Moldova and Ukraine, sees improvements in them owing to the integration of particular joint programs between the two countries and thus sees a big political risk in Moldova and Ukraine. At the decision-making level in the Kremlin and in Russia’s Federal Security Service, Moldova and Ukraine are supervised by the same persons.
Historian Ruslan Shevchenko noted that Russia’s means of influencing the bilateral relations between Ukraine and Moldova are diverse. The war in Donbas is one of them. The Russian side makes effort to put the Russians in Donbas in a positive light and to present the Ukrainian authorities as occupants. The blocking of the Russian propaganda in such countries as Moldova and Ukraine sets a dangerous precedent for Russia. That’s why it tries to discredit the actions of the authorities of these states. Alternative media sources in Russian are needed to fight the Russian propaganda.
Artem Filipenko, of the National Institute for Strategic Studies of Ukraine, said the Transnistrian region is Russia’s instrument of influencing the situation in Moldova. To minimize this influence, an optimal variant is to work out a common Moldovan-Ukrainian view for settling the Transnistrian conflict.
Mikhailo Samus, director of New Geopolitics Research Network, stated that Russia wants to achieve its geopolitical goals by lies and provocations, to become involved in the affairs of other states and to try to bring them at odds and to create chaos. To limit this influence so that there is no third power in the relations between Ukraine and Moldova, measures should be taken in the information sphere and different discussions and events about the bilateral relations and the prospects of developing the relations between the two states should be staged.
The roundtable meeting is the third held so far this year in a series of events centering on the Ukrainian-Moldovan relations and the Russian aggression factor in the Northern region of the Black Sea. According to the organizers, Russia’s wish to maintain its influence on the two countries is one of the most important subjects for Ukraine and for Moldova.
