Washington: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington supports Moldova’s formal application to join the European Union in a fast-track bid to bolster its ties with the West. Russia already has troops in the country of 2.6 million that are stationed in the disputed territory of Transnistria and are being closely watched as Russian President Vladimir Putin presses ahead with the invasion of Ukraine.

Blinken, who is in Moldova to pledge America’s support to the small Western-leaning former Soviet republic, which neighbors Ukraine, said it was vital to help Moldova achieve greater energy security to bolster its independence. “We know also what can happen when any country is – and this is the case for many – overly reliant on others that proves in one way or another not to be reliable suppliers,” he told reporters at a news briefing.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in a phone call that his country would only halt its military operation if Ukraine stopped fighting and Moscow’s demands were met, the Kremlin said in a statement. Putin said the operation was going according to plan and to schedule. The Russian leader said he hoped Ukrainian negotiators would take a more constructive approach at talks and take into account the reality on the ground.