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German foreign minister hails resumption of talks on Transdniestrian settlement

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that the meeting in the 5+2 format is a platform where the sides can reach a long-term and fair solution of the conflict

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier EPA/VALDA KALNINA

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier

© EPA/VALDA KALNINA

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BERLIN, June 2. /TASS/. The resumption of talks on the Transdniestrian settlement in the 5+2 format (Moldova, Transdniestria, OSCE, Russia, Ukraine and mediators from the EU and the US) is "good news" and an important step for resolving the conflict, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Thursday.

"We made a decision during our chairmanship to focus on the unresolved conflicts on the OSCE space, including in Transdniestria," Steinmeier said during his Latin American tour, according to the country’s foreign ministry. "That’s why the resumption of official talks in the 5+2 format halted more than two years ago is an important interim goal."

The minister noted that at the meeting in Berlin on June 2-3 an attempt will be made to "find a common viewpoint on the status of Transdniestria taking into consideration keeping territorial integrity and sovereignty of Moldova." "Only if the sides coordinate together the solution of practical issues, trust can be restored and positive dynamics in resolving the conflict will be reached," he said.

"We call on both sides to decisively move towards that goal," the minister stressed, adding that the meeting in the 5+2 format is a platform where the sides can reach a long-term and fair solution of the conflict.

Transdniestria, a largely Russian-speaking region, broke away from Moldova following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Its relations with Moldova’s central government in Chisinau have been highly mixed and extremely tense at times ever since then. In 1992 and 1993, the tensions erupted into a bloody armed conflict that claimed the lives of hundreds of people on both sides.

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