CHISINAU, June 21./TASS/. A majority of Moldova’s citizenry disapproves of the government’s course toward worsening relations with Russia, an opinion poll conducted by pollster Intellect Group has found.

"Citizens were asked how they feel about seeing that the republic’s relations with Russia are continuing to deteriorate. As many as 57% of respondents replied that that they have a negative attitude toward the government’s position. Another 16.4% of respondents support the deterioration of relations with Russia, and 17.3% expressed no interest in the question, while the remainder had not heard about it or declined to answer the question," the head of the company, Ian Lisnevschi, told a briefing.

The survey was conducted between June 15 and 19, with 1,056 people living in 83 population centers polled.

Relations between Chisinau and Moscow have chilled since Maia Sandu was elected president in 2020. After her election, she announced plans to head to Moscow to discuss major issues in bilateral relations, among which she listed the export of Moldovan products, gas supplies, and support for the hundreds of thousands of Moldovan citizens who work in Russia. However, the visit never took place, while the Moldovan leadership began to ignore meetings within the framework of the post-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

When the special military operation began in Ukraine, Moldova took the side of the West, lashing out at Moscow. Since last year, a number of Russian media outlets have been banned from broadcasting in the republic, and a national center is being created to combat the purported "propaganda" that Chisinau has repeatedly accused Moscow of spreading. Currently, the dialogue between the countries is maintained at the embassy level.