Putin doesn’t want to end the war

President of Moldova Maia Sandu gave great interview Yuri Dudu. For her, it was the first conversation with a Russian journalist after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine – just as for Dudya, the meeting with Sandu was the first interview with an official of this rank.

The main topics of the conversation were relations between Moldova and Russia and the war in Ukraine. According to Sandu, until the last moment she did not believe that Putin would launch an invasion, and after that she had nothing to discuss with the Russian president, and therefore they never met.

“We all know that Putin started a war in Ukraine, and that he can end it, but, unfortunately, he doesn’t want to,” Sandu said, adding that despite Moldova’s desire for peace with all its neighbors, “with those who starts wars and does not respect the territorial integrity of other countries, it is impossible to have good relations.”

Answering a question about the blocking of the largest federal Russian television channels on the territory of Moldova, Sandu said that in this way the country is implementing EU sanctions, and that “democracy needs protection from propaganda.” The president noted that a number of Russian officials allow themselves disparaging rhetoric towards Moldova – in particular, they say that the country does not exist and that “some Moldovans are subject to Kremlin propaganda.” But at the same time, according to Sandu, the majority of citizens still support Ukraine and oppose Russian military aggression. Sandu said that about 100 thousand Ukrainian refugees now live in Moldova.

Dudi also asked the president if she was not afraid of a Russian invasion of Moldova due to the territorial dispute in Transnistria, to which Sandu replied that “a solution to the Transnistrian conflict is only possible through peaceful means.” At the same time, explaining why she refused to sign a document on the inclusion of the pro-Russian politician and head of Gagauzia Evgenia Gutsul in the government of Moldova, Sandu said that she could not appoint a person “who represents a criminal corrupt group” to the cabinet of ministers. The President of Moldova emphasized that such a step would pose risks to state security.

• Yuri Dud is a Russian journalist and video blogger, the author of the popular YouTube channel “vDud” in Russia with an audience of more than 10 million people. For his channel, he interviews famous personalities and makes documentaries. In February 2022, the journalist publicly condemned Russia’s attack on Ukraine, after which the authorities declared him a “foreign agent”, and Dud was forced to go abroad. In November last year, the Moscow prosecutor’s office began an investigation against Dudya under a criminal article about the so-called discredit of the Russian army.