By Kontur and AFP | 2024-05-30

CHISINAU -- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken promised steadfast US support to Moldova during a May 29 visit, as alarm grows over Russian pressure.

The top US diplomat saluted the work of Moldova's President Maia Sandu, who has charted a firm pro-European course.

"We see you as a very valuable partner in the region and we have an enduring commitment to work together," Blinken told Sandu.

"What's so powerful is the deep and deep-rooted commitment to democracy."

"This in the face of bullying from Russia -- interference, efforts to spread misinformation, disinformation, weaponizing corruption, manufacturing anti-government protests," Blinken said.

"Despite that, we've seen extraordinary resilience."

The United States hopes to ensure "that fundamentally, the people of Moldova are the ones who decide their own future and their own course," he said.

Blinken said US President Joe Biden's administration was asking Congress for another $50 million in support for Moldova, including assistance in cyber security.

The United States has committed some $300 million to Moldova's energy sector already, as the country moved to reduce its reliance on Russian imports in the wake of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Blinken announced that $85 million of the already committed funds would go into immediate projects, including battery storage and helping to link Moldova to Ukraine, Romania and other non-Russian sources of energy.

The United States is "working to help you continue to diversify your energy supply so that you are not dependent on any one source," Blinken said.

More turbulence expected

Sandu said she expected to see more "attempts at Russian interference" as she seeks reelection and pursues eventual membership in the European Union.

"We do expect the situation to get more difficult in the next few months," she said.

Moscow, which stations troops in Moldova's breakaway Transnistria region, has aggressively extended its offensive in Ukraine, stirring new calls to let Kyiv use Western arms to strike directly on Russian soil.

Sandu hailed US support to Moldova and to Ukraine, where Biden has directed billions of dollars in weapons since Russia invaded in 2022.

The assistance to Ukraine "also makes Moldova more safe and resilient," she said. "Our neighbors and friends in Ukraine pay a terrible price every day for the simple aspiration to be free."

Blinken last visited Moldova weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine, predicting at the time that Moscow also would seek to strike the country of 2.6 million.

Despite speculation that Russia would seek to annex Transnistria, US officials said they have seen no imminent military threat from the 1,500 Russian troops in the separatist region.