April 1 (SeeNews) - Moldova continues to be neutral and has not requested any weapons supplies at this stage from its partners in order to protect itself from the war in neighbouring Ukraine, Moldovan foreign minister Nicu Popescu said on Friday.
"Under the Constitution in force since 1994, Moldova is a neutral country and our regional diplomatic and military policy complies with this status. (...) However, neutrality does not mean self-isolation. Therefore, in the last years, Moldova has been involved in several military cooperation projects with partner countries, as well as in peacekeeping operations," Popescu said during a joint live-streamed news conference in Chisinau with his counterparts from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria.
"We did not discuss today any military cooperation projects, and Moldova is not requesting weapons from its partners at this stage. In our view, peace and stability of the country's territory will be preserved," Popescu added.
Popescu told his counterparts that Moldova is facing multiple economic challenges because of the war, noting that many exporters can no longer sell their products in eastern markets and carriers cannot access traditional routes in the region, which are closed due to the military action, according to a press release issued by the Moldovan foreign ministry.
The diplomats talked about the availability of freight road transport through Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia and the identification of ways to increase the presence of Moldova's products in the markets of these countries.
Moldova's economy ministry said on Tuesday that the country's economy will grow by just 0.3% in 2022 after expanding by 13.9% last year, with the slowdown mostly due to the war in Ukraine and disruption of global supply chains. Before Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the economy ministry targeted economic growth of 4.5% in 2022.