MOSCOW, April 24. /TASS/. The current relations between Moldova and Russia are the worst in the history of the country's independence, Igor Dodon, former president and leader of Moldova's opposition Socialist Party, said on Monday.

Commenting on anti-Russian rhetoric, expulsion of diplomats and disruption of the visit of Tatarstan head Rustam Minnikhanov, the politician said: "In my opinion, all these steps are taken to please Western curators." "We have to admit that relations between Russia and Moldova [today] are at their lowest level in the last few decades. It threatens Moldova's inclusion on the list of countries unfriendly to Russia and it will have a very bad impact on our economy and citizens who have friendly relations with Russia," Dodon said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 TV channel. He drew attention to the slump in the export of Moldovan products to Russia last year, the increase in the price of energy resources and the deterioration of the standard of living in Moldova.

After her election as president in 2020, Moldovan President Maia Sandu said that she planned to visit Russia to discuss important problems of bilateral relations. Among them, she listed the export of Moldovan products, gas supplies, as well as the support of hundreds of thousands of Moldovan citizens who work in Russia. However, Sandu never visited Moscow, and since the start of the special operation in Ukraine, she has taken the side of the West and repeatedly made anti-Russian statements.