At present there appears to be little chance of Russia expanding its land bridge to Crimea all along the Black Sea coast to the Ukrainian border with Moldova. "But that’s not to say that the Kremlin has completely given up on this ambition," writes Stefan Wolff, Professor of International Security at University of Birmingham.

"The more Russia can peddle a narrative that connects [Moldovan president Maia Sandu's pro-EU stance and] European integration with economic decline and constraints on language and cultural rights, the more division it can sow – and not just in Moldova, but potentially also in other EU candidate countries from the western Balkans to the south Caucasus."