German Foreign Minister pledged an additional 100 million euros (111 million U. S. dollars) in winter aid for Ukraine in view of the ongoing Russian attacks on infrastructure in the country.

The support for Ukraine is “also support for Moldova and European democracy as a whole,” Annalena Baerbock said on Tuesday at a conference in Chișinău to bring together support for the small country of Moldova, which borders Ukraine.

“The biggest concern of the local people here is that if Ukraine falls, Moldova will be the next country to fall,” Ms Baerbock said.

Russian attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure have created energy supply issues and also left residents in some parts of the country short of water and heat as winter looms.

Ms Baerbock accused Moscow of aiming to “make the lives of people in Ukraine as terrible as possible.”

Ms Baerbock said Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to see Moldova collapse.

“He has achieved the opposite. Moldova, like Ukraine, is now a candidate for European Union membership,” she stated.

The immediate task now would be to stabilise Moldova further, she said.

Ms Baerbock had previously spoken with the president of Moldova, Maia Sandu, during her visit to the country’s capital.

In the afternoon, Baerbock is scheduled to visit a centre for strategic communication and the fight against disinformation and propaganda in Chisinau.

(dpa/NAN)