Moldova dismissed an accusation by Russia's defence ministry on Thursday that Ukraine planned to invade the breakaway Moldovan region of Transdniestria after staging a false flag operation, and called for calm.
The defence ministry said the purported plan by Ukraine - which borders Moldova - posed "a direct threat" to Russian troops in the Russian-speaking region.
"The armed forces of the Russian Federation will adequately respond to the impending provocation of the Ukrainian side," it said in a statement. It added that Ukraine planned to stage an attack by purported Russian forces from Transdniestria as a pretext for the invasion.
Separately, Tass news agency quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin as saying the West had instructed Moldova's government in Chisinau to stop all interaction with Transdniestria's Moscow-backed authorities.
The Moldovan government issued a statement on the Telegram messaging app saying state authorities "do not confirm" the Russian defence ministry's allegations.
"We call for calm and for information to be received (by the public) from official and credible sources of the Republic of Moldova," it said. "Our institutions cooperate with foreign partners and in the case of threats to the country, the public will be promptly informed."
Ukraine's government has yet to respond to the accusations from the Russian defence ministry.
Moldova's foreign minister told Reuters on Wednesday that the tiny former Soviet republic, which also borders NATO member Romania, was prepared for a "full spectrum of threats" from Russia.
President Maia Sandu, who wants her country to join the European Union, accused Moscow this month of planning a coup to topple Moldova's leadership. Moscow denied the allegation.
The mainly Russian-speaking region of Transdniestria broke away from then-Soviet Moldova in 1990. After the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, pro-Russian separatists fought a war with Moldovan government forces.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said last week it was "obvious" that Ukraine would not be Russia's last stop after invading Ukraine, and that the Kremlin was thinking about ways to "strangle" Moldova.
(Reporting by Alexander Tanas in Chisinau and by Olzhas Auyezov; Additional reporting by Dan Peleschuk, David Ljunggren and Ron Popeski;Editing by Lincoln Feast, Timothy Heritage and Jonathan Oatis)
