CHISINAU, March 16. /TASS/. Moldova’s former President Igor Dodon has called on Moldovan incumbent President Maia Sandu and Transnistrian President Vadim Krasnoselsky to address the international community with a joint statement in order to ease tension in the country.
"Over the past 30 years, we have never been so close to a war as we are today. Geopolitical interests of other countries are to destabilize the situation in Moldova, to open the second front here. <…> Sandu should go to Transnistria right tomorrow to meet with Keasnoselsky and address the international community and Ukraine with a joint statement calling on them to refrain from interference. The United Nations might be a guarantor," he said answering journalists’ questions in social networks.
According to Dodon, such a declaration would reassure people on both banks of the Dniester River.
The Russian defense ministry reported earlier that Ukraine was deploying troops and weapons near the Ukrainian-Transnistrian border. Kiev confirmed these reports, saying however that Ukrainian troops were on a defensive mission. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said that his country was not planning to deploy troops to Transnistria because it deems this territory to be part of Moldova.
Meanwhile, Moldova has nearly doubled its defense budget, despite the economic crisis, and is receiving weapons from the European Union. Tiraspol insists that Moldova’s military buildup cannot help strengthen trust between the Dniester banks.