President Sandu: Foreign Minister, dear Antony, welcome to Chisinau.
Secretary Blinken: Thank you.
President Sandu: Your visit today confirms our excellent cooperation, the excellent cooperation between the Republic of Moldova and the United States. This is your second visit in the last two years. You are among the first high-level officials who visited Moldova immediately after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and showed solidarity with our country.
We are very grateful for the support that the United States is giving to Ukraine. This support also means keeping Moldova safe and resilient, and we are very grateful to you and the American people for helping us in this difficult time. You are helping us in the energy sector, so that we can improve our energy security. You are helping us in the economy (inaudible) sector. You are helping us in the education sector. We have many important projects between (inaudible) institutions. So, thank you very much.
Secretary Blinken: Thank you very much, Madam President. It’s wonderful to be here again, to meet you, to meet all of our partners, and to reaffirm the United States’ strong commitment to Moldova’s sovereignty and Moldova’s success. And we see you as a very valuable partner in the region. And we’re privileged to work together in all of the areas you’ve suggested, including building a resilient democracy, supporting inclusive economic growth and opportunity for all Moldovans, helping you diversify your energy supplies so that you’re not dependent on a single source – and of course, making sure that at the core, the people of Moldova are the ones who determine their own future and their own path. That’s really what it’s all about.
I also want to express my deep gratitude to all the Moldovan people, who have shown incredible generosity to our friends in Ukraine in their time of need – sheltering so many refugees, supporting them, helping them, and of course raising their strong voices in standing up for Ukraine’s sovereignty, its territorial integrity, its independence. At this time when we see democracies challenged around the world, our own solidarity as democracies means more than ever. And President Biden really wanted me to be back here again, in this moment, to reaffirm our commitment to you and to our shared values.
President Sandu: thank you so much.
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