VLADIVOSTOK, September 4. /TASS/. Moscow will consider any potential provocations against Russian peacekeepers and citizens in Transnistria as an attempted attack on Russia, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday.

"We would like to remind that in addition to Russian peacekeepers deployed in the area there are over 220,000 Russian nationals residing in the region," the diplomat said speaking at a news briefing on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF). "Any provocations will be considered in accordance with international law and will be viewed as an attack on the Russian Federation."

According to Zakharova, the Moldovan authorities are leading the country down the "disastrous path of Ukraine," as they follow an anti-Russian course upon instructions from the West.

The Russian diplomat added that Moldova keeps demanding to "get rid" of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Transnistria, but at the same time completely ignores the history of the conflict’s roots in the region and the reason why the Russians are in Transnistria in the first place.

"Maybe someone in the staff of [Moldovan President Maia] Sandu's regime will smarten up and reread the history of their own region, their own country, their own territory?" Zakharova noted. "Perhaps, they will recollect all those developments that happened there decades ago and where they all could have led to?"

Eastern Economic Forum

The Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) is underway on the campus of the Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok on September 3-6, 2024. The main theme of the EEF in 2024 is "Far East 2030. Combining strengths to create new potential."

Business activities at the forum are divided into seven sections, dubbed "New Contours of International Cooperation," "Technologies to Ensure Independence", "Financial Value System," "Far Eastern Russia," "People, Education, and Patriotism," "Transport and Logistics: New Routes," and "Master Plans: From Architecture to Economy."

The Roscongress Foundation has served as the Forum’s organizer since 2016. TASS is the general information partner of the EEF.