Support The Moscow Times!

Kremlin Warns Against ‘Problems’ With Ukraine, Moldova EU Candidacy

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Alexander Kazakov / Kommersant

The Kremlin said Friday it hopes that Ukraine and Moldova’s already strained ties with Moscow will not be worsened by the countries' new status as candidates for European Union membership.

EU leaders on Thursday agreed to grant candidate status to Ukraine, whose outgunned military has been battling Russian forces for four months, and Moldova in a move hailed by Kyiv and Chisinau as historic. The neighboring countries had applied for EU membership days after Russia invaded Ukraine in February.

President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the 27-member bloc’s decision was “of course an internal European matter.”

“[But] it’s very important for us that all these processes don’t bring more problems to us and more problems in the mentioned countries' relations with us,” he told reporters.

Peskov singled out Moldova — where several attacks in the Moscow-backed breakaway region of Transnistria in recent months have raised fears of the Ukraine war spilling across the border — for what he called increasing hostility toward Russia.

“It seems to them that the more they become anti-Russian, the more Europeans should like them. We would very much hate to see that happen,” he said.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the EU and NATO of gathering a “war coalition against Russia” at a separate briefing later Friday, calling the EU, a non-military bloc, an “increasingly anti-Russian union.”

Peskov brought up Turkey’s stalled EU candidacy bid as an example of how long it could take Ukraine and Moldova to become full-fledged members.

Several EU officials suggested this week that the process, which requires candidates to reform their institutions, could take several years.

“I remember more than 20 years ago I started to serve as a diplomat at our embassy in Turkey,” Peskov said. “Turkey was also hoping to become an EU candidate and was ready to give up many things in order to become an organic part of Europe.”

“Well, we see that Turkey hasn’t moved beyond this candidacy, but it has become a sovereign, independent country.”

… we have a small favor to ask.

As you may have heard, The Moscow Times, an independent news source for over 30 years, has been unjustly branded as a "foreign agent" by the Russian government. This blatant attempt to silence our voice is a direct assault on the integrity of journalism and the values we hold dear.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. Our commitment to providing accurate and unbiased reporting on Russia remains unshaken. But we need your help to continue our critical mission.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just 2. It's quick to set up, and you can be confident that you're making a significant impact every month by supporting open, independent journalism. Thank you.

Continue

Read more