FILE PHOTO: Head of Transdniestria Vadim Krasnoselsky takes part in a ceremony marking the Defender of the Fatherland Day in Tiraspol, Moldova's breakaway region of Transdniestria, February 23, 2023. REUTERS/Vladislav Bachev/File Photo
CHISINAU (Reuters) - The leader of Moldova's breakaway region of Transdniestria has travelled to Moscow since the suspension of Russian gas deliveries via Ukraine, the president of Moldova said on Tuesday.
Transdniestria has suffered widespread power cuts since Jan. 1 when Russia's Gazprom suspended gas exports to the region, citing an unpaid Moldovan debt of $709 million that Chisinau does not recognise as valid.
Moscow blames the suspension of gas supplies on Moldova and Ukraine, which refused to extend a five-year gas transit deal that expired on Dec. 31 on the grounds that the proceeds help fund Russia's invasion.
Moldova says Moscow could use an alternative route to continue supplying Transdniestria, which was receiving gas via Ukraine.
Moldova's pro-Western President Maia Sandu, speaking at a news briefing, gave no details about the visit to Moscow by Transdniestria's separatist leader, Vadim Krasnoselsky. Neither his office nor Russian authorities have commented on the visit.
Sandu said Moldova's decision to allow him to travel to Moscow via Chisinau showed that her government was not obstructing efforts to resolve the crisis, which has triggered gas cutoffs, rolling power cuts and water supply problems in Transdniestria.
"Tiraspol's refusal to accept help from Moldova is not its (refusal) but the Kremlin's," Sandu added, reiterating Chisinau's view that Transdniestria acts only on Moscow's orders. Tiraspol is the separatist region's capital.
Moldovan officials say they have offered Transdniestria help with buying gas on external markets and securing coal supplies from Ukraine. The separatist authorities say Chisinau has made no real proposals.
Sandu said she believed the energy crisis had been artificially stoked, arguing that Russia had alternative routes to continue supplying contracted natural gas. Russia's only goal is to destabilise situation in Moldova, she added.
Sandu, who won a second presidential term in a closely fought election late last year, aims to take Moldova into the European Union.
(Reporting by Alexander Tanas, writing by Yuliia Dysa; Editing by Gareth Jones)
