MOSCOW, November 17. /TASS/. Moscow is aware of Chisinau’s interest in the swiftest resumption of talks on the Transnistrian settlement in the "five plus two" format (Moldova, Transnistria, the OSCE, Russia, Ukraine, as well as observers from the EU and the US) that were planned for November 2-3 in Stockholm, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference following talks with Moldova’s Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu on Wednesday.

"We are hoping to hold an official meeting in the "five plus two" negotiating format which has been inactive for two years already as soon as possible. We sensed the interest of Moldova’s leadership in the swiftest resumption of such a format," the Russian top diplomat noted.

According to him, Russia will continue "to play the role of a mediator and a guarantor of the Transnistrian settlement." "We emphasized the importance of the consistent implementation and the further development of the agreements that were achieved between Chisinau and Tiraspol within the framework of bolstering trust-building measures and that were directed at ensuring an all-inclusive and all-encompassing settlement on the Dniester," the Russian foreign minister emphasized.

At the 5 + 2 negotiations, held in Berlin in 2016 and in Vienna in 2017, the sides agreed on many disputed issues. However, in recent years, the process stalled amid the polls in Moldova in 2019, while the parties failed to arrange a single round in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving a number of agreements on hold. In early June, the representatives of mediators from Russia, Ukraine and the OSCE and the observers from the US and the EU visited Chisinau and Tiraspol, stating the need to renew the negotiation process.