European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas accused Russia of “weaponizing gas” and waging a “hybrid war” in Moldova, where the pro-Russian separatist region of Transnistria has been cut off from Russian gas supplies since early January, France Presse reported.

“Russia continues to use gas as a weapon, and the Republic of Moldova is once again the target of its hybrid war,” denounced the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, according to Agerpres.

Kaja Kallas stated that, during a telephone conversation with Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean, she “reaffirmed the unwavering solidarity” of the European Union for the Republic of Moldova.

“Thanks to the EU’s support, the Republic of Moldova remains resilient and well connected to European energy networks,” Kallas assured.

Russian giant Gazprom announced in December the suspension of its gas supplies to the Republic of Moldova in the context of a financial dispute with this ex-Soviet republic with European aspirations.

Thus, from January 1, Gazprom turned off the gas tap, claiming a debt of over 700 million dollars, estimated by Chisinau at only about nine million.

The territory of the Republic of Moldova controlled by Chisinau is currently free from power outages, but it depends largely for its electricity needs on the Cuciurgan thermal power plant, located in Transnistria.

This important infrastructure, which provides up to 80% of the Republic of Moldova’s electricity production, has only supplied Transnistria since January 1 and currently operates on coal, with reserves set to run out by the end of January or mid-February at the latest.

“Russia has only one goal: to cause instability in the region and, above all, to influence the results of the legislative elections expected to take place in the fall,” Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean denounced in front of the foreign press.

The closing of the tap on January 1 corresponds to the end of Russian gas supplies through Ukraine, a decision taken by Kiev because of the war.

But after the end of the Ukrainian transit, Moscow could “deliver gas through the TurkStrem gas pipeline, but it refuses to do so,” drew the attention of the Moldovan prime minister, whose pro-European government has accused Moscow of wanting to provoke a humanitarian crisis in the Transnistrian region.