Relations between the Republic of Moldova and the Russian Federation have never been based on respect, despite the efforts of the government in Chisinau, President Maia Sandu said in an interview Wednesday night on TVR Moldova. The spokeswoman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Maria Zakharova, rejected the accusations of the President of the Republic of Moldova in her Telegram channel, News.ro reports.

“If you remember, when we came to power, we said that we want pragmatic relations based on mutual respect with the Russian Federation. I made these statements before the war started, before the Russian Federation attacked Ukraine, but we have to admit that we have never had a relationship based on mutual respect, no matter how much effort was made here in Moldova “, Maya Sandu said during the TVR Moldova show Punctul pe Azi, NewsMaker reports.

The head of state cited several arguments for her statement regarding Russia’s disrespect for the Republic of Moldova: the illegal stay of Russian troops on the territory of Moldova for 30 years, the imposed embargo, energy blackmail, illegal financing of political parties, interference in the internal affairs of the Republic of Moldova, as well as the recent increase in threats statements from Moscow.

The President also commented on Moldova’s recent decision to withdraw from the Agreement on the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Maia Sandu welcomed this decision and said that the agreement is “useless” for the Republic of Moldova.

“None of the agreements we had, including with the CIS, allowed us to receive respectful treatment from the Russian Federation. And what then? This war showed even more the true face of the Kremlin and how dangerous it is. The time has come to make this analysis and say directly what is beneficial and what is not beneficial to the citizens of the Republic of Moldova. We make decisions in the interests of citizens. Yes, we are a small country, but this does not mean that our people should not be respected,” said the head of the Moldovan state.

Zakharova says that Russia has “always” treated Moldova with respect

In Moscow, President Sandu’s statement was not ignored, writes NewsMaker. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova denied Maya Sanda in a public post.

Zakharova claims that Russia has “always” treated Moldova and its people with respect. She did not miss the opportunity to show again that she was concerned about the fact that the Chisinau parliament decided to replace the phrase “Moldovan language”, introduced by the old pro-Russian governments in Chisinau, with “Romanian language” in official documents. .

“A lie again. We have always respected this country and its people, with whom we are so historically connected. And I always felt it was mutual. (…) The current president of Moldova, holder of a Romanian passport, and similar pseudo-politicians, maliciously manipulated, do not show mutual respect for the people of this wonderful country, whose language was taken away,” Zakharova wrote in her Telegram. channel.