Moscow accuses Ukraine of having interrupted gas transit and Moldova of arguing financially; Chisinau suspects Russia of seeking to influence the upcoming elections.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief has accused Russia of using gas as a weapon against Moldova.
Russia is using “gas as a weapon” to wage a “hybrid war” against this small South-Eastern European country, Kaja Kallas said Tuesday evening, promising the bloc’s support. The breakaway region of Transnistria, which has close ties with Moscow, has been deprived of gas since the start of the year due to a financial dispute between Chisinau and Russian state gas giant Gazprom.
“Russia continues to use gas as a weapon and once again Moldova is the target of its hybrid war,” Kallas wrote on the social media platform resilient and well connected to European energy networks.”
Russia continues to use gas as a weapon and Moldova is once again the target of its hybrid warfare.
Thanks to EU support, Moldova remains resilient and well connected to European energy networks.
During my call with @DorinRecean I reaffirmed our unwavering solidarity with Moldova.
– Kaja Kallas (@kajakallas) January 7, 2025
For decades, Transnistria, a predominantly Russian-speaking separatist region located along the Ukrainian border, had received Russian gas via Ukraine.
But that route was cut on New Year’s Day after kyiv refused to extend a transit deal with Moscow that had persisted during nearly three years of war between the two countries.
The Moldovan government has blamed the crisis on Gazprom, which it says has refused to supply gas under contract to Transnistria via an alternative and tested trans-Balkan route.
Gazprom blamed the disruption on unpaid Moldovan debts, which Moscow says amount to $709 million. But Moldova disputes this debt and says its position is supported by an international audit.
In her message, Kallas said she reaffirmed the EU’s “unwavering solidarity with Moldova” during a call with Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean.
Disruptions now affect more than 51,000 households in Transnistria. An estimated 1,500 apartment buildings do not have heating and the functioning of the economy is also under pressure.
Change of diet
The thin strip of territory in Transnistria has been de facto controlled by pro-Russian forces since the collapse of the Soviet Union, but is internationally recognized as part of Moldova.
Moldova says Moscow wrongly blames it for the crisis, which Russia allegedly artificially fueled to weaken the government ahead of this year’s parliamentary elections.
“The meaning of all this is that Russia is creating instability in the region but also and above all that it is influencing the results of the parliamentary elections in Moldova… They want to achieve a pro-Russian government…” Recean said during from an online press briefing.
Late last year, Russia was accused of interfering in elections that saw pro-EU Moldovan forces win a narrow majority.
