Moscow warns that any action against its troops in Transnistria will be a direct attack on Russia

Latest news on the war pitting Russia and Ukraine.

Moldovan Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu summons Russian chargé d’affaires over Lavrov’s statements.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned Thursday that any action against Russian “peacekeepers” present in Transnistria will be considered an attack against Russia itself.

“Everyone should understand that any action endangering the security of our military will be considered, in accordance with international law, as an attack on Russia,” he has warned, citing the 2018 Five-Day War in South Ossetia as an example.

“As far as our interests are concerned, our peacekeepers are stationed there (…) protecting Europe’s largest ammunition depot in Kolbasna,” Lavrov has said in statements reported by the Interfax agency.

Following these words of Lavrov, the Moldovan Foreign Minister, Nicu Popescu, has summoned the Russian chargé d’affaires in Moldova, Anatoli Loshakov, to express his displeasure at the statements of the head of Russian diplomacy.

“Chisinau, as always, reiterates its attachment to peaceful, diplomatic and dialogue-based methods both for the reintegration of the country and dialogue with Russia on the withdrawal of Russian troops illegally stationed on our territory. We consider any further speculation unfounded,” it has explained in the Foreign Ministry on its official Telegram profile.

He has also stressed that the rights of ethnic minorities “are respected in accordance with democratic principles.” In the case of Russian speakers, the Moldovan side has expressed, “no violations of their rights have been reported to the competent institutions” of the country.

The separatist region of Transnistria, with a majority Russian and Ukrainian population, gained new prominence on the political chessboard after the invasion of Ukraine. Its proximity to the Kremlin and its important geostrategic position has raised the misgivings of Kiev, which suspects that Moscow could use this territory to enter through the southwest of its borders.