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Russian diplomat confirms Dodon's visit to Moscow late in November

Earlier, Dodon confirmed his intention to pay his first official visit to Moscow and hoped that the visit would take place before the end of 2016

GOMEL, November 21 /TASS/. Moldova’s President-elect Igor Dodon will visit Russia after a meeting of the Russian-Moldovan trade and economic inter-governmental commission slated for late November, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and State Secretary Grigory Karasin told TASS on Monday.

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Putin invites new Moldovan president to Moscow

In his address to Dodon, Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized that he would be glad to receive Moldova’s president-elect in Moscow. "Now, it is necessary to wait for (Dodon’s) inauguration after which the two administrations will get in touch with each other and set the date for a future visit," Karasin said.

"An inter-governmental (Russian-Moldovan) commission is expected to meet late in November (prior to Dodon’s visit) to consider concrete issues of trade and economic cooperation between the two countries," the Russian deputy foreign minister said.

"The inter-governmental commission will contribute to making the first contact between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Moldova’s President-Elect Igor Dodon more concrete and meaningful," Karasin went on to say.

Earlier, Dodon confirmed his intention to pay his first official visit to Moscow and hoped that the visit would take place before the year’s end.

The pro-Russian candidate and leader of Moldova’s Party of Socialists, Igor Dodon, won the runoff presidential election in Moldova on November 13, 2016 with 52.18% of the votes (835,210 votes). His pro-European rival Maia Sandu, the leader of Moldova’s Liberal Action and Solidarity Party, having garnered 47.82% of the votes, was defeated. Dodon promised to be the leader of all Moldovans and reunite the country’s fractured society. He also called for restoring relations with Russia and focusing on the Transnistria settlement.

International and local observers considered the elections to be valid and legitimate. The leaders of Russia, the CIS countries, Turkey, Ukraine, Romania and a number of EU states congratulated Dodon on his election victory. The US also said it was ready to work with the new president-elect.

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