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US Secretary Blinken thanks Moldova for welcoming refugees from Ukraine

Top US diplomat Antony Blinken assured Moldovan leaders on Sunday that the US will stand up to international opposition to Russian aggression “whenever and wherever it takes place”.

Speaking alongside Moldovan President Maia Sandu on a tour of Eastern Europe following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the US Secretary of State also said that the United States supported Moldova’s aspirations to join the European Union, but that the process will be decided by the EU.

Moldova says more than 230,000 refugees have crossed its border into Ukraine since the war began on Feb. 24.

Asked what reassurances Washington could give Moldova in light of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, Blinken pointed to US efforts to mobilize the international response that is isolating Russia and crippling its economy.

“Whenever and wherever this aggression appears, we will do the same thing,” he said.

The United States is not committed to defending Moldova, as the former Soviet republic, like its neighbor Ukraine, is not a member of NATO.

Sandu is a former World Bank economist who came to power in 2019 and won a longer term in July elections promising closer ties to the West.

Moldova formally applied on Thursday to join the European Union. The move is likely to anger Moscow, which has about 1,500 troops based in the breakaway region of Transnistria in eastern Moldova.

Blinken said the US is providing $18 million over the next few years to “strengthen and diversify” the country’s energy sector. Moldova relies heavily on Russian gas.

“(energy) independence and energy security are really critical to maintaining sovereignty and independence,” said Blinken.

At least 120,000 of those who have crossed into Moldova remain in the country of about 2.5 million people, Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita said in an earlier meeting with Blinken.

“For a small country like Moldova, this is a very large number” and Moldova will need assistance in dealing with refugees, she said.

Source: CNN Brasil

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