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Russia opposes additional formats for Transnistrian settlement process, says diplomat

Russia’s envoy at the Transnistria negotiations Sergei Gubarev added that it would be perfect for the parties to incorporate the agreements that had been reached into their national legislations, but stressed that work on the issue still lies ahead

MOSCOW, December 27. /TASS/. Creating additional formats for the Transnistrian settlement process will steer it into a dead end. The "5+2" (Moldova and Transnistria as parties to the conflict, Russia and Ukraine as the guarantors and mediators, the OSCE as a mediator and the US and the EU as observers) is an effective mechanism, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Ambassador at Large and Russia’s envoy at the Transnistria negotiations Sergei Gubarev told TASS.

"As of today, the ‘5+2’ format is the only internationally recognized negotiation platform for solving the Transnistrian problem. Creating other, additional formats to accelerate the process would be counterproductive, it would steer the process into a dead end and complicate achieving the ultimate goal," he said.

This negotiation mechanism is fairly effective, the diplomat went on to say. "It was even more effective when it worked in accordance with those provisions, which were enshrined in the underlying document of that mechanism. <…> This document provides, in particular, for holding five to six ‘5+2’ meetings per year. Although we have been unable to hold six meetings, we still managed to meet four or five times a year."

Gubarev added that it would be perfect for the parties to incorporate the agreements that had been reached into their national legislations, but stressed that work on the issue still lies ahead.