CHISINAU, December 23. /TASS/. Moldova’s authorities have dismissed reports about their plans to launch a military campaign in Transnistria as false.

"It is not true that the Moldovan authorities are plotting military actions in Transnistria - this is a serious and dangerous misinformation geared to sow panic and mistrust. We reiterate that Chisinau remains firmly committed to the peaceful resolution of the conflict without any exceptions," Moldovan Presidential Chief of Staff Adrian Balutel wrote on his Telegram channel, commenting on the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service’s reports saying that Moldovan President Maia Sandu is conspiring such plans.

According to Balutel, the country’s leadership believes that the "complete and unconditional withdrawal of Russian troops illegally deployed to Moldova’s sovereign land will be a major step toward the conflict resolution."

He also placed the responsibility for the energy crisis in Moldova on Russia’s gas giant Gazprom. "The current problems stem from Gazprom’s refusal to implement its contract obligations rather from the Moldovan government’s actions. The government is working hard on how to support people affected by the crisis, regardless of the region," he noted.

Earlier, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) said in a statement made available to TASS that the Moldovan president had recently convened a meeting on energy security issues with senior government officials where she "emphasized the need to organize a military operation to take control of Transnistria and end Russia’s peacekeeping presence in the region." The SVR pointed out that "the EU leadership can think of no way to calm down the emotionally unstable Moldovan president."

On December 16, Moldova introduced a state of emergency due to the threat of a humanitarian crisis in connection with the possible termination of Russian gas transit through Ukraine. The move came amid popular protests against another rise of tariffs for household gas. Kiev’s plans to halt the transit of Russian gas from January 1 only added uncertainty. Prime Minister Dorin Recean said in early December that the termination of supplies of Russian gas to Transnistria, which generates up to 80% of electricity consumed in Moldova, will not merely entail a dramatic rise in electricity prices but may trigger a humanitarian disaster in the winter.

After Russia’s Gazprom, which used to be the sole gas provider to Moldova, reduced daily supplies by 30%, to 5.7 million cubic meters, in October 2022, Chisinau decided to redirect this gas to Transnistria, where the Moldovan power plant is located.