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Russian deputy PM blasts statement on peacekeepers’ withdrawal from Transnistria

Moldova’s defense minister said earlier that he had reached an agreement with his Ukrainian counterpart to draw up a plan on withdrawing Russian military and weaponry from Transnistria

MOSCOW, November 7. /TASS/. Kiev and Chisinau forgot about coordinating with Moscow and Tiraspol the proposed withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers from Transnistria, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Monday.

Moldova’s Defense Minister Anatol Salaru said earlier in Chisinau that he reached an agreement with his Ukrainian counterpart to draw up a plan by the end of the year on withdrawing Russian military and weaponry from Transnistria. The plan envisages the creation of a "green corridor" via Ukraine’s territory.

"Didn’t they forget about consulting with Russia and Transnistria? This sounds like Honduras promises to help Guatemala in the withdrawal of US forces from Korea," Rogozin wrote on this Twitter page.

Ukraine’s Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak said he would not go into details about his Sunday’s meeting in Odessa with the Moldovan counterpart. The minister reiterated Kiev’s official position on the enclave’s status in a statement on the Twitter page. "We respect Moldova’s territorial integrity and support the intention to withdraw Russia’s military base from the country’s territory."

Russia’s peacekeepers have been in Transnistria since summer 1992 in line with the deal signed by the Russian and Moldovan presidents in the presence of Transnistria’s leader. The agreement envisages the permanent stationing of joint peacekeeping forces in the region consisting of contingents from Russia, Moldova and Transnistria, and also ten military observers from Ukraine.

The agreement’s implementation allowed launching multilateral talks on resolving the conflict in the "5+2" format (Moldova, Transnistria, Russia, the OSCE, Ukraine and observers from the US and the EU).