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Russian deputy PM warns Moldova of possible provocations by Ukrainian radicals

Dmitry Rogozin considers it possible that Ukrainian radicals may use joint missions with Moldovans to destabilize the situation in the country
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin Mikhail Metzel/TASS
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin
© Mikhail Metzel/TASS

TIRASPOL, July 6. /TASS/.  Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rozogin has warned Chisinau of the possibility of Ukrainian radicals using joint missions and staging provocations in order to destabilize the situation in Moldova.

"There are certain grounds to think that Ukrainian radicals may use joint missions with Moldovans to destabilize the situation, exacerbate it and frame Moldovans," Rogozin, who also serves as Russian president’s special representative on Transdniestria and co-chairman of the Russian-Moldovan inter-governmental commission on trade and economic cooperation, told a press conference. "We would not want that. We want to restore normal relations with Moldova, that’s why Chisinau should remain alert," he added.

The situation in Ukraine represents a big problem, the deputy prime minister continued. "Provocations are possible, and I talked about it in Chisinau," he explained. Moldovan politicians should be cautious with Ukraine, especially on the issue of Transdniestria, he warned. Rogozin noted that Russia closely follows the developments near Transdniestrian borders.

The Transdniestrian conflict started in March 1992 when the first clashes occurred between Moldovan police and Transdniestrian militia near the city of Dubossary, which were followed by an outbreak of armed hostilities. By summer, it had developed into large-scale fighting in Bendery, where about a thousand people were killed and tens of thousands were wounded and became refugees.

The fratricidal war was stopped after a peace agreement was signed in Moscow in July of the same year and Russian peacekeepers were brought into the conflict area. Since then, they have been guarding peace and calm in the region, together with their Moldovan and Transdniestrian colleagues, thus allowing Chisinau and Tiraspol to conduct negotiations on the settlement of the conflict around the breakaway republic.