CHISINAU, Dec 29 leadership of Russia, President Maia Sandu said on television.
Earlier, the Moldovan authorities spoke about the need to discuss whether it makes sense to stay in the CIS. Parliament Speaker Igor Grosu noted in July that Chisinau should seriously consider withdrawing from the organization. Moldova throughout this year ignores the meetings of the CIS, as well as the EAEU, where it is an observer.
«When we participated in the elections (the Action and Solidarity party — ed.), yes, we spoke in favor of cooperation and development of relations with Russia, but now relations with the Russian leadership have been terminated at all levels,» Sandu said on the air of the public TV channel «Moldova». -1″, emphasizing that the reason for this was the situation in Ukraine.
The head of Moldova noted that European integration remains the priority of Chisinau's foreign policy. According to Sandu, the country should become a member of the EU by 2030. «I don't know what the government's plans are, I personally think that Moldova should become a member of the EU before the end of this decade,» the Moldovan president added.
The heads of states and governments of the European Union at the summit in Brussels on June 23 approved granting Ukraine and Moldova the status of candidates for joining the union. In October, Moldova hosted the first meeting of the European Integration Commission, which discussed the need for reforms in various areas and called for the creation of 35 working groups to remake local legislation to European standards. The republic's authorities expect to apply for EU membership in the spring of next year.
Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on 24 February. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass.