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Moldova to continue strengthening relations with RF – premier

Moldova considers Russia its strategic partner and will continue strengthening relations with it

CHISINAU, January 16 (Itar-Tass) — Moldova considers Russia its strategic partner and will continue strengthening relations with it, Prime Minister Vlad Filat said on Monday.

Summing up the results of the government’s work, Filat said, “We succeeded in preserving a constructive political dialogue with Russia. We will exert effort to further develop relations based on the fact that Russia is our strategic partner and an important player on the international arena.”

The Moldovan prime minister believes that one of the priorities of the government’s activity in 2011 was a breakthrough in the 5+2 negotiations on the Transdniester settlement (Moldova, Transdniester, the OSCE, Russia, Ukraine and observers from the U.S. and the EU). He noted that Moldova’s position had remained unchanged: the republic came against the presence of foreign troops.

The 5+2 Permanent Conferences resumed in the Lithuanian capital after a year-long break. In 2006 the Moldovan delegation walked out of the talks by accusing Tiraspol of “perversity”. The Transdniester settlement talks in the "5 + 2" format were broken at the end of February 2006.

Chisinau and Tiraspol managed to resume the dialogue with Russia's assistance two years later. As a result, the heads of Moldova and Transdniester, Vladimir Voronin and Igor Smirnov, met in the town of Bendery on April 11, 2008 for the first time over the past seven years. Back then, they agreed to restart regular contacts and thus resume the Dniester conflict settlement negotiations.

New steps for the reconciliation the positions of Tiraspol and Chisinau were taken after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's separate talks with Voronin and Smirnov in August and September 2008.

At the end of December 2008, the Moldovan president and Tiraspol leader managed to meet again. In the course of the meeting, Voronin presented a package of proposals on the Dniester settlement, and suggested they begin to discuss them in the "5 + 2" format.

New steps for the reconciliation the positions of Tiraspol and Chisinau were taken after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's separate talks with Voronin and Smirnov in August and September 2008.

At the end of December 2008, the Moldovan president and Tiraspol leader managed to meet again. In the course of the meeting, Voronin presented a package of proposals on the Transdniester settlement, and suggested they begin to discuss them in the "5 + 2" format.

Back then, Voronin and Smirnov decided to meet again in March 2009.

Then the process suspended because of the instable political situation in Moldova.