Sandu: “We are only safe today thanks to Ukraine”

In an interview with the Financial Times, Moldovan President Maia Sandu said that Russia might have sent its troops into Moldova if its full-scale invasion of Ukraine had gone as planned.

“I don’t believe they would have stopped at the border,” Sandu said. “We are only safe today thanks to Ukraine.”

According to Sandu, Russia seeks to restore the USSR.

“They would like to remake the Soviet Union. They want to bring back the old times. And we don’t want this. Moldova has been part of the buffer zone for 30 years and for us this meant poverty, corruption, bad governance, emigration. We want to be part of the democratic world,” she said.

Earlier, Sandu said that Moldova has no possibility of joining NATO due to the long-term influence of Russian propaganda on public discourse.

“When we see what Russia is doing, it becomes clear that neutrality does not protect us. However, there is currently no public support for changing this,” she said on Feb. 18, adding that the Russian Federation has spread false narratives that undermine NATO’s image.

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Editor’s note: This story is a collaboration between the Kyiv Independent and media partners, including Delfi Meedia (Estonia), Expressen (Sweden), Dossier Center (U.K.), Rise Moldova, Frontstory, VSquare (Poland), Süddeutsche Zeitung, Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Rundfunk WDR, Norddeutscher Rundfunk (Ge…

Kyiv IndependentAnna Myroniuk