The European Union has quashed the suggestion that Russia could be involved in a trilateral review of Moldova’s Association Agreement with the bloc, which its president called into question last week during a visit to Moscow, Euractiv informs.

Moldova’s new president, Igor Dodon, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday (17 January) and raised doubts about the benefits the country’s EU Association Agreement has provided, claiming “we gained nothing”.

President Putin suggested that Moscow could play a role in that relationship and said “much can and should be done in the trilateral format”.

The EU’s Delegation to Moldova later told MoldNov that “the implementation of the Association Agreement and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area is an issue of the European Union, the member states and the Republic of Moldova”, essentially pouring cold water on Putin’s offer.

Dodon hopes to cancel the deal, which came into force in 2014, if his Socialist Party wins a parliamentary majority in Moldova’s next election, which is pencilled in for late 2018.

Source: Euractiv