All news

Moldova, Transnistria should put dialogue back on solid course, suggests Russia

However, it is too early to comment on possible dates of the talks in the "five plus two" format, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko noted

MOSCOW, May 17. /TASS/. Chisinau and Tiraspol should put their negotiations back on solid course, a senior Russian Foreign Ministry official said.

"Russia qualified the armed provocations on the Dniester’s left bank on April 25-27 as terrorist acts aimed at destabilizing Transnistria," Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said in an interview with TASS. "The most important thing now is to ensure stability in the region and put dialogue between Chisinau and Tiraspol back on productive course".

Asked if contacts in the "five plus two" format - between Moldova, Transnistria, the OSCE, Russia, Ukraine, the EU and the US - may resume against the backdrop of renewed tensions in Transnistria, Rudenko said it was too early to comment on possible dates of the talks.

A string of terrorist acts rocked Transnistria in late April. The Ministry of State Security was struck by a grenade launcher, and a leading regional broadcaster’s antenna was blown up. Also, airbases near Tiraspol and a depot with some 20,000 tonnes of munitions left over by Soviet troops came under attack.

Vadim Krasnoselsky, president of the self-proclaimed republic, said the attacks had been carried out from Ukraine’s territory and imposed a heightened terrorist threat level.