MOSCOW, August 13. /TASS/. Moldovan charge d'affaires in Russia Alexandru Chetraru has been summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry over media reports about the possibility of F-16 jets transferred to Kiev being stationed at airfields in Moldova, the ministry said in a statement.
"On August 13, the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Moldovan charge d’affaires in Russia Alexandru Chetraru," the statement said. "The Russian diplomats conveyed to the Moldovan envoy serious concern over the information appearing in Russian and Moldovan media that F-16 jets transferred by the West to the Kiev regime will be stationed at airfields in Moldova and will carry out sorties from there to bomb Russian territory," the ministry pointed out.
According to the ministry, the Russian diplomats questioned the continuing militarization of Moldova and the joint exercises of the country's armed forces with contingents from NATO member states. They pointed out that these trends contradict the constitutional status of Chisinau's permanent neutrality and its obligations under the CIS charter documents. The Russian Foreign Ministry added that these actions negatively affect the Transnistrian settlement process and "undermine the security of Moldova itself, where a significant number of Russian citizens live."
"The Russian diplomats urged the Moldovan side to strictly adhere to the neutral status, which is the basis of the statehood of the Republic of Moldova, and not to take any steps that could contribute to the escalation of the Ukrainian crisis, testify to Chisinau's involvement in it and exert a destructive influence on the situation around Transnistria," the ministry said.
"The Moldovan Foreign Ministry's August 13 statement on the alleged illegal deployment of Russian military forces in Transnistria was rejected as untenable and inconsistent with reality," the ministry concluded.