CHISINAU, May 30. /TASS/. Foreign Minister of self-proclaimed Transnistria Vitaly Ignatyev believes that the OSCE’s Austrian representative is doing a poor job as a mediator in the 5+2 talks (in which Moldova and Transnistria are the conflicting sides, with Russia, Ukraine and the OSCE acting as mediators, and the US and EU acting as observers), he elaborated in an interview with TASS, commenting on the delay in the negotiations.
"The Austrian OSCE chairmanship has, in fact, given up its functions as a mediator in the talks. Tiraspol’s and Moscow’s appeals remain unanswered, though Chisinau backs the 5+2 negotiations. A paradoxical situation occurred when the conflicting parties vote for dialogue and Russia supports them as a guarantor, while the OSCE has been laying down unreasonable conditions for almost half a year already," Ignatyev emphasized.
"It feels like a diplomatic cover for ways to turn the heat up on Transnistria, which is, in fact, support for one of the conflicting sides," Tiraspol’s representative noted.
Relations between Transnistria and Moldova heated up when Chisinau voiced its plans to establish control over the Transnistrian part of the border with Ukraine. Tiraspol believes that by controlling foreign trade operations, Moldova will have the means to tighten the screws on the unrecognized republic. Transnistria’s leader Vadim Krasnoselsky warned that the appearance of Moldovan military forces on the eastern borders, where there are no Russian peacekeepers, may spark clashes and threaten regional stability and urged for an early 5+2 meeting.
The Russian Foreign Ministry expressed its concern over the escalation of tensions, noting a delay in the talks and said the meeting should be held as soon as possible. However, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the Transnistrian Settlement Process, Wolf Dietrich Heim, believes that first they have to reach an accord on a bilateral level, that will further be shaped into agreements at the extended-format talks.