CHISINAU: Moldovan leaders denounced as a threat Russian President Vladimir Putin’s offer of simplified Russian citizenship for the country’s pro-Russian Transdniestria separatist enclave and contemplated measures to counteract it. Transdniestria broke from Moldova in 1990 when it was still a Soviet republic and, despite a brief conflict two years later, has since existed largely in peace alongside the country. A Russian military contingent of some 1,500 troops, which Russia sometimes describes as peacekeepers, separates the two sides and the enclave receives substantial Russian assistance.

Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin has signed a decree easing the process of obtaining Russian citizenship for residents of the unrecognised Transnistria.

Eligible applicants can skip Russian residency requirements, history and civic tests, and can forego proving proficiency in the Russian language.