All news

Moldova set on settling Transnistrian conflict peacefully — deputy PM

"All we want is to gradually bring the region back under Moldovan jurisdiction," Oleg Serebrian said

CHISINAU, January 29. /TASS/. Moldova is determined to settle the Transnistrian issue diplomatically, Moldova’s Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration Oleg Serebrian said.

"Tiraspol is trying to accuse Moldova and Ukraine of jointly plotting actions against the region. In this context, I would like to stress once again that Moldova wants to resolve the Transnistrian conflict only by peaceful means. Our colleagues in Kiev share this position. There is no plan for any military pressure on Transnistria," he said at a joint briefing with Ukraine’s Ambassador at Large Paun Rogovey.

"All we want is to gradually bring the region back under Moldovan jurisdiction," he noted.

Transnistria, a largely Russian-speaking region on the left bank of the Dniester River, broke away from Moldova in September 1990 when radical Moldovan politicians demanded that the republic withdraw from the former Soviet Union and unify with Romania. Its relations with Moldova’s central government in Chisinau have been highly mixed and extremely tense at times ever since then. In 1992, after Chisinau tried to resolve the problem with the use of force, tensions erupted into a bloody armed conflict that claimed the lives of hundreds of people on both sides.

The fratricidal war was stopped after a ceasefire was signed in 1992 and Russian peacekeepers were brought into the conflict area. Negotiations on the conflict’s peace settlement known as the 5+2 format started after that.

Earlier, Transnistria expressed concern over growing weapons supplies to Moldova. Tiraspol is also worried over the increased number of drills conducted in the vicinity of the buffer zone protected by Russian peacekeepers.