Moldovan President Maia Sandu visited Kyiv on Saturday for talks with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky amid growing tensions in Transnistria, a pro-Russian separatist enclave of Moldova that neighbors Ukraine.
The territory, which has a population of half a million, has seen heating, hot water and electricity cut-offs since the start of the year because a Kyiv-Moscow gas transit contract that had allowed Russian gas to flow there has expired.
"We'll discuss security, energy, infrastructure, trade and mutual support on the EU path," Sandu wrote on X as she arrived in the Ukrainian capital.
There was a demonstration in Transnistria on Friday to call on Moldova to facilitate the transit of Russian gas and end the energy crisis, local media reported.
Transnistria used to receive gas from Russia via a pipeline that crossed Ukraine and Moldova.
Kyiv has refused to renew the transit contract which expired on Jan. 1, abruptly ending Russian gas supplies to Transnistria, which has declared a state of emergency.
The rest of Moldova has been spared gas cuts thanks to gas and electricity imports from neighboring Romania.
With Ukraine's struggle against a Russian invasion nearly in its third year, Moldova is afraid the conflict could expand onto its territory in case of Russian attempts to destabilize Transnistria.
In an interview with AFP, Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean on Wednesday accused Moscow of trying to generate "instability" in Moldova.
He said the crisis could only be resolved if Russian troops stationed in Transnistria since a war against Moldova in 1992 are pulled out.
Zelensky said at a press conference with Sandu that Ukraine was prepared to send coal to fuel a major power plant in Transnistria, Cuciurgan.
The plant which previously ran on Russian gas imported via Ukraine has since been powered by coal. It previously supplied about 70% of Moldova's electricity.
"We have coal that we can actually supply to Moldova, we can supply to Tiraspol. If they really want people to have electricity," Zelensky said, referring to separatist authorities in the main administrative city of Transnistria.
"If we give them coal, we are ready to talk about a low price, even free of charge," the Ukrainian leader added, while floating the possibility that the region in turn could supply Ukraine with much-needed electricity.
Zelensky, whose own country's power grid has been battered by Russian air strikes, said that Ukraine was also prepared to send a delegation to the plant to optimise its output.
"Now it's for the regime in Tiraspol to accept this assistance, this help and to make sure that people get heating and electricity as soon as possible," Sandu said.
"Moldova is going through a completely artificial energy crisis, which was created by Moscow," Zelensky said.
"Energy resources are exactly the kind of weapon Russia uses to influence the politics of other countries through crises," he added.
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