Other Eastern European nations could be next if the Russian conquest of Ukraine succeeds, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
“The invasion of Ukraine is only the beginning. Then they want to invade other countries,” Zelensky said in a Friday evening address. “All the nations that, like us, believe in the victory of life over death must fight with us. They must help us because we are the first in line. And who will come next?”
Zelensky’s remarks came just hours after a top Russian military leader discussed his country’s military action in Ukraine.
“Control over the south of Ukraine is another way out to Transnistria, where there are cases of Russian-speaking people being oppressed,” Major General Rustam Minnekayev told Russian state news agencies Friday, in what was seen as a veiled threat to Moldova.
Transnistria, a nominally break away state from Moldova, is not recognized by any nation, and signed a peace treaty with Moldova in 1992. The region bears similarities to breakaway areas of eastern Ukraine with large Russian speaking populations which Russia has used as a pretext for its war of aggression against the country.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Jalina Porter said the United States firmly stood behind the independence of Moldova, though she refused to comment directly on Minnekayev’s statement.
With Post Wires