Moldovan PM says agreement signed in Kyiv not security treaty, but technical-military cooperation agreement

The technical-military agreement concluded with Ukraine does not represent a security treaty and does not affect the neutral status of Moldova. Prime Minister Vasile Tofan provided details on the document signed in Kyiv on October 26, during a press conference held alongside Romanian Prime Minister Luca Niculescu, who was on his first foreign visit to Moldova.

The Moldovan PM emphasized that the agreement aimed to boost cooperation in the field of defense and provide Moldova with access to technologies tested in real combat conditions, including drone interceptors.

“I want to clarify from the very beginning that this is not a security treaty. In order not to give propagandists ammunition, Moldova remains a neutral country. At the same time, neutrality does not mean that we must be powerless and disregard our defense. Today, Ukraine is a country that fights every day and tests new technologies not in laboratories, but in real combat conditions. As a country with limited resources, we want to ensure that we acquire tested technologies at reduced costs. Many of these technologies are currently developed, tested and produced by companies in Ukraine. We want to intensify this cooperation,” the prime minister said.

The clarifications came after representatives of the Party of Socialists had expressed concern about the signing of the document. The prime minister said that neutrality is a sensitive issue in society and said that he wanted to prevent it from being exploited for propaganda purposes.

“It is a technical-military cooperation agreement that will give us access to technologies, including drone interceptors, which we need so much,” Tofan added.

For his part, Romanian Prime Minister Luca Niculescu said that Bucharest was already cooperating with Ukraine to develop Romania’s drone industry and that new stages of cooperation could be launched soon.

“What the prime minister said about drones being tested in Ukraine on a real-world scale is an exercise that Ukrainians, unfortunately, know very well. We will cooperate—we are already cooperating—with them to develop Romania’s drone industry,” said Luca Niculescu.





The Romanian prime minister noted that Romania was discussing the development of counter-drone systems. At the same time, Bucharest and Chisinau are holding talks on expanding cooperation in the field of defense, including in the context of the European SAFE programme.

Vasile Tofan said that the exchange of experience and cooperation in the field of defense were part of the bilateral agenda of Moldova and Romania and can contribute to strengthening the country’s defense capabilities without changing its neutral status.

Romanian political analyst Mihai Isac believes that the signing of the agreement violated neither the national legislation of Moldova nor international law. According to him, the document represents an opportunity for Chisinau to benefit from Ukraine’s experience in adapting defense capabilities to the conditions of a real war.

“For Moldova, the key issue is access to the experience of a state that is constantly adapting its defense to a real war. This experience can help with personnel training, infrastructure protection, and the identification of technological solutions suited to Chisinau’s limited resources,” Mihai Isac said.

The expert emphasized that the value of the agreement would depend on the programmes that are implemented, their financing and the establishment of responsibilities and deadlines. He noted that the involvement of the business and academic communities could contribute to the development of cooperation. In his opinion, the expansion of cooperation in the field of demining, which was publicly announced, already represents an example of practical utility.

On October 26, during Prime Minister Vasile Tofan’s visit to Kyiv, the defense ministers of Ukraine and Moldova signed a technical-military cooperation agreement, which also aims to identify solutions for protecting Moldova’s airspace.