Russian President Vladimir Putin has revoked a 2012 decree that partially upheld Moldova’s sovereignty as part of policies over the future of Transnistria, a Moscow-backed breakaway region bordering Ukraine and where Russia has troops.

The decree, which included a Moldovan component, outlined Russia’s 11-year-old foreign policy, which kicked off Moscow’s rapprochement with the European Union (EU) and the United States.

According to reports from the international news agency, the revocation was published on the Kremlin’s website and states that the decision was taken “to ensure Russian interests in relation to changes in international relations“.

Alexandru Flenchea, Moldovan chairman of the joint control commission in the security zone around Transnistria, said the cancellation does not mean Putin abandon the notion of Moldovan sovereignty.

“The decree is a political document that applies the concept of Russia’s foreign policy,” Flenchea told Publika-TV. “Moldova and Russia have a basic political agreement which provides for the mutual respect for territorial integrity of our countries,” he said in an attempt to defuse tensions.

The Kremlin has said Russia’s relations with Moldova, which last week approved a new pro-Western prime minister who has vowed to continue his campaign to enter the EUThey were very tense. And he accused Moldova of following a anti-Russian program.

Moldova, political crisis and Russian missiles in its airspace

Ten days ago the pro-European president of Moldova, Maia Sandu, appointed Dorin Recean new prime minister in the midst of a crisis in which Putin is suspected of trying to “destabilize” the country.

Moldova’s intelligence services confirmed reports from Ukraine that Moscow was planning to “destabilize” the country with a view to overthrowing the government.

In the midst of all this situation, it has become known that in the last few hours two Russian Kalibr cruise missiles have crossed the border between Ukraine and Moldova, entering Romanian airspace, said the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces, Valerii Zaluzhnyi.

Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ignat stressed that it is not the first time that Russian missiles have flown over other countries and that in the case of Moldova it has already happened “at least three times”.

Moldova suffers from power outages after Ukraine stopped exporting electricity due to the war and Russian giant Gazprom cut gas sales in half, according to the government.

Furthermore, this small country of 2.6 million inhabitants, a candidate for the European Union, is under military threat from Russia, which has soldiers on its territory, in the pro-Russian separatist region of Transnistria.