London, July 25 (IANS) Moldova Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita has said she is very worried that Russia will invade her country next while warning that no country is safe from Russian President Vladimir Putin, media re- ports said. Natalia Gavrilita’s warning came after Mos- cow’s forces made gains in Ukraine’s south and east, near the Moldova-Ukraine border, in recent months, Daily Mail reported.
Analysts believe that Kremlin is trying to create a land bridge between Russian- occupied territory in eastern Ukraine and Transnistria – an unrecognized breakaway region supported by Russia – in order to cut Ukraine off from the Black Sea, the report said. Transnistria controls a narrow strip of land that is found mostly between the Dniester river and the Moldovan Ukrainian border. It declared independence from Moldova following a brief military conflict in 1992 but is international- ally still recognized as being part of the Eastern European country. “It’s a hypothetical scenario for now, but if the military actions move further into the southwestern part of Ukraine and toward Odessa, then, of course, we are very worried,” Gavrilita told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria on Sunday. “We are very worried, especially considering that troops are on the territory of the secessionist Transnistria region. We are doing everything possible to maintain peace and stability and to ensure that the fight- ing does not escalate.”
