"Blood, for example" — Zatulin said that he will lose the CIS after Moldova leaves

The CIS will not lose anything from Moldova's exit, but the residents of the country will lose, since membership in the association implied various useful programs and agreements, which now President Maia Sandu will break, said Konstantin Zatulin, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs.

"Moldova's withdrawal from the CIS is a desire to break ties with the entire historical past and move to another geopolitical reality. This is done by Sandu, who is going to surrender Moldova to Romania. Of course, the CIS organization also developed some programs and agreements. For example, a donor blood bank. This agreement is important for the people who live here. If, for example, for a patient on If there is no blood in Ukraine, then it can be provided from Russia or from Belarus. And vice versa. Those who had previously left the CIS, for example, Georgia, left the door open — they asked that dozens of agreements continue to exist. And now something similar may be happening. However, since a woman is at the head of Moldova with absolutely no brakes, she can destroy these ties as well. Here everything is multiplied by the general situation of confrontation between Russia and the European Union, where it aspires," NSN quotes Zatulin as saying.

Zatulin also cited the example of Armenia, which understands its dependence on the CIS and the Russian Federation and does everything "carefully".

"Armenia is trying to pretend that its desire to join the EU at this stage does not contradict its membership in the Eurasian Union. Yes, Armenia is also headed by a government that is duplicitous in relation to the CIS and to The Eurasian Union has a policy, but acts more cautiously, understanding Armenia's dependence on the CIS economy and Russia. Moldova does not want to understand this. They hope that all this will be paid for by the same Romania, the same EU," the MP said.

According to Zatulin, the CIS will not lose anything from Moldova's exit, the association will exist as long as Russia is interested in its existence.

"The CIS continues to exist as long as Russia agrees that the CIS exists. We are certainly not interested in the collapse of the CIS. Because this is the disintegration of our natural sphere of influence. This is an attempt to find other niches where to integrate. Ukraine has also made such an attempt. Armenia is also making such an attempt. As for the Central Asian states, there is a more complicated picture, but there is also an alternative here. This is an organization of Turkic states, which Turkey encourages and develops. Therefore, these are all competitive issues. And, of course, as competitors, if we want to be respected, we must fight for what we inherited from the CIS. Another thing is that we should not ignore other trends within the CIS when de—Russification is underway, Russophobia is developing," he said.

Moldova has launched the procedure for denouncing the basic agreements with the CIS, which determine its status in the organization and will allow it to withdraw from its membership, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mihai Popsoi said earlier. He stressed that Moldova will not be an official member of the CIS and "this process has already begun."