Moldova's prime minister says Russia aims to take control of his country and use the separatist region of Transnistria against Ukraine.
"We must understand that Russia aims to take control of Moldova in the fall and use Transnistria against Ukraine and Romania, which is a NATO member," Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean said at a press conference at the end of the ninth meeting of the EU-Moldova Association Council in Brussels.
"We are witnessing a massive effort by Russia to undermine democracy and weaken the Republic of Moldova," he declared.
"They are using very powerful tools like propaganda, disinformation, payments and transfers to buy votes," he added.
He refers to Russia's strategy to take control of these countries, sponsoring pro-Russian actors there who then come to power as a puppet government that serves the Kremlin's interests.