Russia Counts on Military Cooperation with Moldova

Moscow is looking for ways to balance the growing military-technical cooperation between the US and Moldova Many remember the mysterious story from the past week associated with the transportation of military equipment from Russia to Serbia. At some point, the situation have come to such a serious pass that it threatened to turn into an international scandal. As a result, the combat vehicles were successfully delivered to Belgrade. However, the lack of any clear explanations and conflicting official interpretations of what happened by the actors left more questions than answers. It all started with accusations of representatives of Belgrade against Bucharest, allegedly blocked the delivery of military cargo sent to Serbia on the Danube river. The Romanian authorities, in turn, referred to the anti-Russian sanctions, which caused the failure to issue the necessary permits. Later there was information that the military equipment was confiscated by the Romanian authorities. The Russian military department called it “an absolute lie”, while stating that there have been no plans for the river transportation. After a few days, the combat vehicles arrived in Serbia by air – this became clear according to the statements of the President Alexandar Vucic. We can only guess whether there was in reality an attempt to deliver the cargo by the river or the Russian military simply misled their opponents. What’s important: Moscow has effectively demonstrated to the world and, above all, to the United States and NATO that it is able to militarize any regional space – if it’s in its interests. Especially in the conditions of ‘twisting hands’ to its allies, as happened in the case of Belgrade, which the West is forcing to make a final compromise with Kosovo. Another important aspect of this story is that Romania, a NATO member country, could not prevent the Russian maneuver. The successful delivery of cargo by military transport aircraft, which could pass through the airspace of Romania, testifies to the successful operation to test the tactical breakthrough of the southern flank of NATO and the transfer of troops to the rear of a hypothetical enemy. If this is what happened, and Romania (despite the official tough statements) actually provided the air corridor to the Russians, it threatens serious proceedings in the North Atlantic Alliance and unpleasant questions to the country’s leadership. After all, unlike Ankara, flirting with Moscow, Bucharest was considered one of the most reliable ‘guards’ of the Black Sea borders of NATO and a loyal ally of Washington in the region. It is symbolic that this entire ‘Serbian story’ took place almost simultaneously with the working visit of the Minister of Defence of Moldova Pavel Voicu in Moscow to meet with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu. Relations between Moscow and Chisinau after years of controversy are now experiencing a Renaissance, but even in these circumstances, so soon meeting of the heads of defense departments can be called a surprise. While the Moldovan Minister pleased Moscow with his benevolent statements about Russia as a “reliable ally”, the Russian side expressed its readiness for full cooperation in the field of security. As known, despite the official neutrality of Moldova, both Russia and other influential powers have a military-strategic interest in it. In this sense, the visit of the delegation of the Moldovan Defence Ministry to Moscow may be an attempt to balance the military-technical cooperation between Chisinau and Washington. Besides, Moscow objectively has enough ‘points of interest’ in the territory of Moldova. First, it is long overdue to support the Russian army group in Transdniestria, which supports the peacekeeping operation and guards military depots in Cobasna. The Ukraine’s withdrawal in 2014-2015 from various agreements has blocked the military transit for the needs of the Russian army on the Dniester – for the last 5 years it has actually been self-sustaining. Second, there are difficulties with the peacekeeping operation itself, which some persistently tried to eliminate in previous years. There are some positive signals for the Kremlin in this issue also. So, the new Moldovan negotiator Vasile Sova, listing the topical areas on July 12 to the delegation of mediators and observers in the negotiation process, identified the need to “promote confidence-building measures in the field of defense”. At first glance, building confidence between the military of the conflicting Chisinau and Tiraspol seems, to put it mildly, a bold and ambitious task. But, apparently, we are talking about a peacekeeping mission under the auspices of Russia. If a certain set of measures is indeed implemented within the framework of the operation, it will mean Chisinau’s readiness to remove excessive pressure on peacekeepers and at the same time increase the role and military influence of Moscow in the region. For a long time, the main weakness of Russia’s position in Moldova was its remoteness from Moldovan territory and the hostile ‘barrier’ in the name of Ukraine. However, the ‘Serbian story’ shows that now it has ceased to be a serious problem for Moscow. Speaking of hypothetical options for increasing the Russian military presence in the region, we can recall the Moldovan port of Giurgiulesti on the Danube. Some may again play on Bucharest’s nerves about its favor to their Moldovan partners. In any case, military transport aircraft, apparently, as in the previous case, will be considered as a practical alternative. In this context, the military airfield in Tiraspol, which, according to the repeated statements of the Ukrainian military, is being actively modernized by the Russians, is of new relevance for the Russian side. It is obvious that Russia, which scored a lot of points through overthrowing the past Moldovan regime, is trying to convert them into the restoration of cooperation not only in the field of economy and trade, but also in the defense sector. Certainly, it won’t be easy for the Kremlin to resist Washington, which has long attracted the Moldovan armed forces into the orbit of its influence. But Moscow seems to be ready for decisive and creative moves, as the stories in Serbia and Moldova prove.