Russia said on Monday that it had summoned the Moldovan ambassador to Moscow to protest what its foreign ministry called “unfounded accusations” made against the Russian ambassador in Chișinău by a Moldovan political party.
The foreign ministry said in a statement that the unnamed political party had called for Russia’s ambassador to be expelled and for the work of Russia’s embassy to be limited, Reuters reported.
Dorin Recean, the Moldovan prime minister, said the summoning of the ambassador was linked to the leak of a letter from Russia’s embassy to Moldovan authorities regarding the energy crisis gripping Moldova’s separatist Transnistria region.
Recean told reporters the letter said no Russian company would supply gas to the region, which has been suffering power and wintertime heating cuts since Ukraine refused to extend a transit deal to allow Russian gas to be shipped there.
He did not mention any threats against the ambassador or the Russian embassy. Moldova’s foreign ministry made no comment.
Moldovan President Maia Sandu told her Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday that Russia was orchestrating an energy crisis in her country with the intention of bringing a pro-Moscow government to power there.
Russia denies any interference in Moldova’s internal affairs.
