According to US Senator Ben Cardin, if Putin had taken over Ukraine as fast as he was anticipating, there would have been a real danger that he would go for Moldova and Georgia. US Senator stated about it a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Senate.

The American legislator asked the Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland what steps Washington is taking to assist Moldova and Georgia.

The Democrat Senator also noted that Russia has already crossed the borders of Georgia and Moldova and it is already present in "disputed regions" of these countries.

A senior State Department official told Cardin that the United States has a long-standing relationship with Georgia on security issues.

She said that over the years, Georgians have regularly contributed to all kinds of NATO operations and exercises, as well as received a lot of military training and equipment from the United States, which accelerated considerably after Putin's invasion of Georgia in 2008.

According to the Deputy Secretary of State, currently, Georgian-American relations are strong and continue firmly.

During a discussion in the US House of Representatives, Nuland also responded to Cardin's question about Moldova, adding that if Putin's troops entered Odesa, there would be very little distance to Transnistria, in which case, according to Nuland, Moldova would be next.

The State Department official also said that at the request of the Moldovan president, the US is trying to increase not only humanitarian aid to the country (as they host many Ukrainian refugees), but also assistance to Chisinau in border, energy security and other issues.