Minister of Foreign Affairs Mihai Popșoi says that the Moldovan-Russian relations continue to be at the lowest level in the recent history. According to him, it is something that reflects a sad reality, a reality that the Republic of Moldova cannot change. The only country that can change this reality is the Russian Federation. In an interview with IPN News Agency, the official said that as long as the massacre of civilians in Ukraine and the destruction of civilian objects and energy infrastructure continue, it is difficult to imagine an improvement in relations with the Russian Federation.
"The Republic of Moldova is a peaceful state, a state that wants to have good relations with everyone. We have a diaspora in the Russian Federation. We have particular economic relations, but we cannot get over this extremely regrettable reality in which the Russian Federation continues in an insistently cynical way to destroy, to annihilate a neighboring state, a friendly state – Ukraine," said Mihai Popșoi.
According to the Deputy Prime Minister, for this reason, communication with the Russian Federation is limited only to contacts with the embassy of this country in the Republic of Moldova. Most of the times, it goes to protest notes, summoning of the ambassador or the chargé d'affaires to the MFA to be presented with protest notes.
The other types of communication take place in the public space and through press releases, most often through responses to attacks coming from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.
"We continue to defend the interests of the Republic of Moldova and our citizens and we will respond every time to these unjustified attacks by the MFA of the Russian Federation, but we have long ago realized that they do not belong to themselves. They are not an independent entity and do not promote diplomacy in the broad sense of the word," said the head of the Moldovan diplomatic service.
The minister said that things are not changing in the neighboring country, and the Republic of Moldova is directly affected by the Russian Federation's attacks against Ukraine, from economic and energy points of view.
"It is understandable for everyone. We would like an improvement and we are willing to do everything for this improvement, but this must somehow be a two-way move, a reciprocal move. However, at this moment we do not see such a desire on the part of the Russian Federation,” noted Mihai Popșoi.
The official expressed his regret at the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine and Russia's "furious attacks" against Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
