TSAMTO, May 23. The UK and other NATO countries are discussing the possibility of supplying weapons to Moldova. This, as RIA Novosti reports, was stated by the head of the British Foreign Ministry Liz Truss in an interview with the Telegraph.
According to her, this measure is aimed at protecting the country from the alleged "threat of invasion" from Russia.
"I would like to see Moldova equipped according to NATO standards. We are having a discussion on this issue with our allies," L. Truss said.
She added that negotiations are underway to make sure that the defense of not only Ukraine, but also Moldova meets the "NATO standards" to prevent any future attack. If the plan is adopted, NATO members will provide Moldova with modern weapons, replacing them with Soviet-era equipment, and will train military personnel how to use them.
As the agency reminds, last week the Moldovan government gave a negative conclusion to the draft law "On the status of permanent neutrality", which was put forward by the opposition Bloc of Communists and Socialists (BCS). Secretary of State of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Vyacheslav Dobynda said during the discussion of the bill that the proposed initiative contradicts national interests and may isolate the country at the international level.
According to the Constitution of Moldova, the republic has a neutral status, but since 1994 the country has been cooperating with NATO within the framework of an individual partnership plan. As previously conducted opinion polls in the country show, the majority of the Moldovan population opposes joining NATO, RIA Novosti notes.
At the end of 2020, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg opposed the presence of Russian peacekeepers in the unrecognized Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, as Russia allegedly violates the territorial integrity of Moldova. Moscow has rejected NATO's accusations, saying that the Russian military contingent is in Transnistria legally.
The operational group of Russian troops located in the PMR is the successor of the 14th Combined Arms Army, which was transferred under the jurisdiction of Russia after the collapse of the USSR. Its main tasks are a peacekeeping mission and the protection of ammunition depots.
