White House spokesman John Kirby said Friday morning that the Biden administration would provide Moldova with $300 million in energy aid and share information with the country’s authorities about Moscow’s attempts to destabilize the country. former soviet republic.
Kirby pointed out that while the United States sees no immediate military threat to Moldova, the administration believes Russia is seeking to weaken the neighboring country, provoke an uprising there and install a pro-Russian government.
The U.S. intelligence community believes that individuals linked to Russian intelligence agencies are planning to stage protests in Moldova in an attempt to provoke an uprising against the Moldovan government, with the ultimate goal of installing a pro-Russian administration there, it said. White House officials Friday.
The United States believes that Russia is trying to weaken the Moldovan government, which is seeking closer ties with the European Union. The United States is also seeing signs that Russian operatives linked to the Kremlin could hire anti-government protesters in Moldova. Anti-government protests have taken place in Chisinau in recent weeks, mainly organized by the pro-Russian Shor party.
The United States also believes that Moscow is spreading misinformation about the situation in Moldova. One example was the Russian Defense Ministry’s announcement last month that Ukraine was planning to invade Transnistria, the Moscow-backed breakaway region of Moldova.
The White House said the allegations are “baseless, false and cause baseless alarm.”
Moldovan President Maia Sandu said publicly last month that she believed the Russian government was planning “a series of actions involving military-trained saboteurs disguised as civilians to commit acts of violence, attack government buildings and take hostages”.
The United States is closely watching Russia’s actions in Moldova, officials said, for fear of continuing the Kremlin’s efforts to destabilize Europe. President Joe Biden met with Sandu last month in Warsaw, where they discussed Russia’s harmful influence on Moldova.
In October, the US Treasury Department sanctioned nine individuals and 12 entities that Washington said were involved in destabilizing Moldova.
