CHISINAU, January 9. /TASS/. Vadim Krasnoselsky, president of the unrecognized breakaway republic of Transnistria, criticized Moldova for rejecting any settlement reached with Tiraspol through talks, stating that Chisinau has recently been resorting to blatant pressure tactics.

"Allowing the negotiation process to stall and stagnate has been the choice exclusively of the Republic of Moldova. There are no other reasons behind either the pause in the dialogue, or the deadlock in the 'Five Plus Two' format (involving Moldova, Transnistria, the OSCE, Russia and Ukraine, as well as EU and US observers - TASS), or rejection of the agreements reached <…>. Moldova is currently acting solely through the instruments of sanctions, restrictions or intimidation," Krasnoselsky told TASS in an interview, referring to economic pressure and the toughening of sanctions for separatism.

The Transnistrian leader blamed Chisinau for stalling the Five Plus Two format by disrupting the round of negotiations held in Bratislava in 2019 and abstaining from talks altogether in 2020 and 2021, amid the COVID-19 pandemic and following the dismissal of Moldova’s political representative, respectively. "The conflict between Russia and Ukraine is the current fig leaf [providing a pretext] for boycotting dialogue on the part of the Republic of Moldova," Krasnoselsky said.

In 2022, Ukraine closed the Transnistrian segment of the border with Moldova, enabling Chisinau to take control of trade flows in this direction. Earlier, Transnistria blamed Moldova for causing a deficit of medicines and blocking the export of goods produced by the breakaway region’s fiscally vital enterprises. In 2024, Moldova imposed taxes on Transnistrian imports, which will now be subject to double taxation. Chisinau has denied all accusations, insisting that it abides by Moldovan export and import laws.