(MENAFN) Moldovan authorities are making a “grave mistake” by adopting a confrontational stance toward Russia, according to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

Earlier this week, Moldova’s government, led by pro-EU President Maia Sandu, unveiled a new security strategy that labels Moscow as the primary threat and accuses it of waging a “high-intensity hybrid war” against the country. The document states that the former Soviet republic has been “profoundly affected” by the conflict in Ukraine, describing it as Russian “aggression.”

Moscow has consistently denied interfering in Moldova’s internal affairs, insisting that the Ukraine conflict was instigated by Western actions and that Russia is merely defending itself. Peskov described Chisinau’s strategy as a “continuation of a rather confrontational line towards our country,” adding: “From our point of view, the current leaders of Moldova are making a grave mistake. They believe that the line of building up relations with Europe implies full antagonization of Russia.”

He further warned: “One country has already made such a mistake. It did not bring any good to this one country,” alluding to Ukraine, where a Western-backed coup in 2014 toppled its elected government, triggering a breakdown in Moscow-Kiev relations and a prolonged armed conflict.

In September, Sandu’s pro-EU Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) retained its parliamentary majority, narrowly defeating the Patriotic Electoral Bloc (BEP) and other opposition factions amid reports of voter restrictions and allegations of fraud, both domestically and abroad. Her victory was widely seen as another step toward Moldova’s EU integration.

Moldova, a country of roughly 2.4 million people situated between Romania and Ukraine, was granted EU candidate status in 2022, shortly after the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine.

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