 Moldova asked the West for air defense systems due to the Russian threat. Defense Minister Anatoly Nossati has confirmed that Moldova has asked its Western partners for air defense systems in a move that signals a departure from the country's policy of not seeking to purchase lethal weapons from the West. Nossati, who attended the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting in Ramstein, Germany last week, acknowledged in an interview with RFERL that the chances of receiving such defense armaments are slim at the moment when the top priority of Western Allies remains delivering weapons to Ukraine. It is not as easy as a country to say, I want this and I want that and hope that somebody will give it to you. Nossati said adding that discussion with Western countries on the issue are ongoing. Moldova's position on requesting Western weapons has changed following several incidents at its border with Ukraine where Russian rockets shot down by Ukraine fell on Moldovan territory. Russian missiles launched from the Black Sea to hit targets in Western Ukraine also fly often over the northeastern part of Moldova. Currently, the country lacks air defense monitoring systems. The war in Ukraine has shown that Moldova's neutrality status and the discussion about Moldova's demilitarization are no longer current, Nossati said. Ukrainian officials have repeatedly warned that Moldova's separatist Trans-Denista region, which broke away in 1990, could be used as a staging area for Russian operations against Ukraine or Moldova, which also shares a border and the common history with NATO member Romania. Trans-Denista is a sliver of territory that borders Ukraine where hundreds of Russian troops remain deployed since before the fall of communism, despite Chisinaw's objections. The illegal presence of Russian troops in Trans-Denista clearly demonstrates that the neutrality narrative was imposed on us, Nossati said. Moldova's leadership has repeatedly called for the withdrawal of these troops, but they are still here, which proves that our neutrality is only declarative.