"She is not, as far as we understand, the president of her country because, in the country itself, the majority of the population did not vote for her," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.

Russia on Tuesday denounced Moldova's weekend election as unfair and said it did not see the winner, Maia Sandu, as the legitimate president of the country. Pro-Western Sandu defeated a former prosecutor general backed by a traditionally pro-Russian party in a vote marred by allegations of election meddling by Moscow,

T here were deep sighs of relief in the capitals of western Europe as well as among liberal-minded reformers in Chisinau, Moldova’s capital, when Maia Sandu, the country’s incumbent president, was re-elected on November 3rd.