During his first official visit to Brussels, Moldova’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mihai Popșoi said he has “faith” in the Trump administration’s “genuine will and genuine commitment to peace” in Ukraine.
Wednesday will see the start of a second round of US-led peace negotiations with Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi.
This phase of discussions will address one of the main sticking points: the dispute over Moscow’s maximalist demands over the future of territories in eastern Ukraine, parts of which are occupied by Russia.
Speaking to Euronews, Popșoi took a cautious view of the situation as it stands.
“When the rockets are flying and children are dying, and people are freezing every morning, I think a good basis for the beginning of a dialogue would be for these sorts of things to stop”, he told Euronews’ flagship morning show Europe Today.
Popșoi said it was “just a matter of the Kremlin not being particularly constructive, as we can see with the latest horrific attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure”, and questioned whether Moscow “is fully committed to this process”.
Popșoi praised Ukrainian resistance to Russia’s efforts to “cripple the Ukrainian nation”. He said the country has “resisted heroically” and that the international community has “been helping meaningfully”, but that it is now time for a “lasting, sustainable and just peace”.
Moldova is not part of either NATO or the EU, a situation that Popșoi said entails “a significant dose of anxiety”.
“The only country in the world that has been consistently violating Moldova’s neutrality status has been the Russian Federation,” Popșoi said.
Moldova is now in the race to become an EU member and has set a “date to finish negotiations by 2028”. Popșoi said his country has been making significant reforms to keep its membership bid on track.
“We are doing the heavy lifting,” he said.
