While the rest of Moldova receives energy support from Romania, Transnistria has an acute energy crisis since an agreement between Moscow and Kyiv on gas deliveries from Russia via Ukraine ceased at the New Year.
When Moldova's President Maia Sandu was received by Volodymyr Zelenskyj in Kyiv for talks on energy needs, the Ukrainian president stated that:
Moldova is going through an energy crisis created by Moscow to negatively affect Moldova's independence and the upcoming parliamentary elections in the country.
He then came up with an unexpected solution to Transnistria's energy problem.
We have coal that we can deliver to Moldova, we can deliver to (Transnistria's largest city) Tiraspol, if they really want their people to have electricity.
Zelenskyj also said that the price can be negotiated – "or be free".
But Moldova may have to pay in another way. According to Bloomberg, Zelenskyj said that Moldova with Ukrainian coal can produce more electricity than the country needs – and that all excess electricity will then be sent back to Ukraine.
Zelenskyj also proposes that Ukraine can become a transit country for gas from Azerbaijan to Europe, to replace the interrupted Russian gas deliveries to, among others, Slovakia.
The two countries' efforts to join the EU were also included in the talks, writes Sandu on X.
