DISINFO: NATO threatens Transnistria
SUMMARY
NATO will seek to take revenge for Crimea in Transnistria. It is a fact that numerous drones are being deployed to Romanian military bases. The US wants to have Russian forces removed from the area, and the Biden administration is ready to implement even the “most daring” plans to look decisive on Russia.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the NATO or the US encircling Russia.
Following the Transnistria War in 1992, the breakaway region became de facto independent from Moldova but has remained internationally unrecognised. Russia maintains a contingent of so-called peacekeepers and exercises political and military influence over the region.
The recently elected president of Moldova, Maia Sandu favours a peaceful solution to the crisis. She has called for the withdrawal of the around 1,000 Russian troops deployed in Transnistria as a necessary condition to solve the conflict and asked to replace them by an OSCE civilian observer mission. At the same time, she noted that she favours warm relations with Russia.
Meanwhile, NATO itself states that the alliance "has no direct role in the conflict resolution process in the region of Transnistria". The US supports a comprehensive settlement of the conflict in the region. Nothing indicates that either NATO or Washington changed their views on Transnistria and seeks to move towards a forceful solution. There is no proof either that the Biden administration would be planning any sort of military aggression against Moscow.
The US did deploy about 90 airmen and drones to the Romanian Campia Turzii Air Base for a "few months" to conduct surveillance, information gathering and research missions. Nothing indicates that the deployment had anything to do with Transnistria, their focus will mainly be the Black Sea.
Other articles have also claimed that there may be a provocation in Transnistria to cause a NATO intervention, or that Romania and Moldova would push Russian troops out of the region.