Moldova, a small landlocked nation of roughly 2.5 million people in Eastern Europe, is critical in world politics primarily because of its location: it borders Ukraine to the north, east, and south.
Hence, the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine has an impact on Moldova and what Moldova does is watched closely in Kyiv, Moscow, and Washington, D.C.
Most significantly, Moldova has become almost completely energy independent of Russia and thus the country has a freer hand in assisting its neighbor, Ukraine.
"We've come a long way from 100% dependency on Russian gas and significant dependency on electricity," said Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mihai Popsoi in an exclusive interview with Newsmax.
Popsoi proudly pointed out, "We have now zero dependence on Russian gas and we are buying gas on the international market. Several times we have bought American LNG [Liquefied Natural Gas]. There are LNG terminals in Greece and there are other ones in Gdansk, Poland, and they're in Lithuania. There is a very competitive market for natural gas, which we discovered after being dependent on [Russian energy colossus] Gazprom—a single supplier during our 30 years of independence."
Recalling the dark days of being totally dependent on Gazprom, Popsoi pointed out that the Russians "could dictate the price [since] we didn't have any bargaining power because we have those contracts, often with political strings attached."
"Now we buy gas on the international market at the best price," Popsoi said. "We buy it in summer, we store it, [and there are] no political strings attached.
"We're not going back to the vulnerability we faced over the past 30 years," he added without hesitation, noting that "sadly, we had situations when Russian proxies were actively undermining Moldova's energy security. And they were very happy to maintain Moldova beholden to Gazprom and the Kremlin in particular. Now we have full transparency, full accountability when it comes to energy security and that puts us in a more resilient position."
As to what propelled Moldova to energy independence, Popsoi replied: "Ukraine. The catalyst was Russian aggression against Ukraine. So there was a strong political will to change. We had the support of the European Union and the U.S., which has just announced it has invested in our energy security, with $130 million in a high-voltage line. That puts us in a position to be a reliable partner for American energy investments in Romania and Ukraine and for us to be a facilitator for those investments."
The foreign minister offered high praise for the Trump administration for "showing an indication of the strong partnership we have. We have an old saying that ‘need is the mother of invention.' So certainly the Russian aggression in Ukraine has changed the dynamic of the region. But also, it has been a long delayed decision we have taken to make certain we diversify the energy supply and we consolidate the energy security, as frankly we have done a while ago. Better late than never."
Popsoi also praised President Donald Trump and his administration "for its determination to seek peace. Ukrainians clearly want peace. Moldovans and everyone in the region want it. Russians don't seem particularly keen just yet. The international community agrees the sanctions on the Russian oil companies are creating a fertile ground to bring everyone to the table for a peace deal that is just and we certainly hope it happens sooner rather than later."
Inevitably, any discussion of Moldova and its position in international politics comes around to Transnistria, a breakaway state recognized as part of Moldova worldwide but whose independence is not recognized by the Moldovan government.
In the post-Ukraine War world, Newsmax asked, does Moldova foresee any problem with Transnistria, a client state of Russia, interfering with the rebuilding of Ukraine?
"They don't really have that much leeway and they don't have much capacity to interfere," Popsoi said flatly.
"To that effect, the past four years have been very difficult in our region. But we have set clear red lines and the folks on the left bank and in the Transnistria region have not crossed them," he continued.
"At the height of the energy crisis last year, when the Russians cut off gas to this supposedly pro-Russian region in the middle of winter, the energy stability on the right bank remained solid because we are rock solid. The Transnistria region really found out the hard way that this propaganda line, the virtues of the Kremlin protecting them, turned out to be not exactly true.
"When your kids are freezing in the middle of winter, this talk of Russia as the protector means you are just a pawn in leverage and you're trying to cause trouble at your expense. We acted responsibly and we found support from the international community to reinstate the gas line and that is clear evidence that we care for our citizens because 97% of the residents of the region are Moldovan citizens."
In recent weeks, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has offered to forever forsake his country's desire to join NATO as part of the eventual peace process. Is this a wise move, Newsmax asked the Moldovan foreign minister.
"It's not wise to comment on internal sovereign decisions," Popsoi replied. "Neighboring countries are friendly, but it is up to the neighboring states of NATO to decide who they get in and who they do not get in. It is NATO's business how to expand the alliance and no one else's."
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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