The European Union will provide 30 million euros ($31.5 million) to purchase and transport natural gas to Moldova's breakaway region of Transdniestria, Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean said on Monday.

Moldova will supply 3 million cubic meters of natural gas to the Moscow-backed separatist region of Transnistria as a temporary solution to its energy crisis, officials announced Monday. The move follows the European Commission’s pledge of an emergency assistance package worth 30 million euros ($31.

The leader of Moldova's separatist Transdniestria region, gripped by power and heating cuts, said on Friday that gas reserves would be exhausted within days and urged the central government to end "artificial delays" and provide new supplies.

The European Union on Monday offered 30 million euros ($32 million) in emergency aid to help buy gas for Moldova's separatist Transnistria region after Russia cut off supplies.

BRUSSELS. Jan 27 (Interfax) - The European Union will provide a package of emergency assistance in an amount of 30 million euros as the first step to help Moldova overcome the energy crisis, the European Commission said in a release issued on Monday.

Moldova and its separatist Transdniestria region inched towards a deal on Monday to allow gas to flow to residents of the rebel enclave, who have been suffering from power and heating cuts since the start of the year.

Zelenskyy said last year he had no intention of renewing the gas transit deal, stressing the importance for Europe of moving on from Russia and not allowing the Kremlin to ‘earn additional billions’ on Ukrainian blood.

CHISINAU. Jan 27 (Interfax) - The Transdniestrian region expects to receive 3 million cubic meters of gas from Moldova for urgent needs, Transdniestrian leader Vadim Krasnoselsky said at a meeting of the operational headquarters on Monday.

Tens of thousands of people in Transdniestria have been without gas or winter heating since Jan. 1 when Russia's Gazprom suspended gas exports to the region, citing an unpaid Moldovan debt of $709 million that Chisinau does not recognise as valid.

The crisis prompted a question: will the breakaway region, occupied by Russia since 1992, survive without Russian gas? Free-of-charge Russian gas had been the backbone of Transnistria's economy and ensured the preservation of the breakaway region and its de facto independence from Moldova.

CHISINAU (Reuters) - The prime minister of Moldova's separatist Transdniestria region said on Monday that the abrupt curtailment of Russian gas supplies that plunged the region into an energy crisis has also shattered both its exports and imports.

The document, seen exclusively by Euractiv Czechia, argues the measures will help the two countries "resist the malign influence of Russia".