Sandu Intends to Participate in Other meetings of the Crimean Platform

President Maia Sandu denies statements that her participation in the Crimean Platform meeting affected the course of negotiations with Gazprom on gas supplies to Moldova. She said this on Friday during a press conference dedicated to the anniversary of her election to the presidency, reports infotag.md Answering journalists’ questions, she noted that “there are other countries that also participated in the meeting of the Crimean Platform, but signed gas import agreements with Gazprom (Hungary – ed.)”. “Moldova respects and will respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity. This is Chisinau’s official position, and it will remain unchanged”, Sandu said, making it clear that she does not regret her participation in the meeting of the Crimean Platform. When asked by journalists whether she intends to participate in such events in the future, she answered affirmatively. “I spoke about Moldova’s position regarding respect for Ukraine’s territorial integrity. We will continue to express this position”, Sandu stressed. Answering questions, she also said she did not think that she should have been more actively involved in negotiations on gas supplies, recalling that the contract is signed by two companies – Moldovagaz and Gazprom. “Where have you seen the president of the country interfere in the commercial relations of two economic agents?!”, the head of state asked rhetorically. According to her, if there is a threat to the state or its energy security, the government should intervene. “That’s what happened. At first, we were confident that the contract with Gazprom, which expired on September 30, would be extended without problems. When this didn’t happen, and there was a threat to the country’s security, the government intervened,” she recalled. Sandu also noted that she had discussed this issue several times with the Russian Deputy head of the Presidential Administration Dmitry Kozak. She declined to comment on the fact that in previous years, President Igor Dodon interfered in gas negotiations. “I will not comment on Dodon’s visits to Moscow, as well as the effectiveness of those visits”, Sandu said. At the same time, she believes that the crisis could have been avoided if Moldova had gas reserves in Romania or Ukraine. “The government should propose to the parliament to fix this in legislation – the mandatory availability of reserves for 2-3 months”, Sandu said. Point