The building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation on Smolenskaya-Sennaya Square in MoscowMOSCOW, Jan 27 Russia calls on the leadership of Moldova to abandon controversial statements about the role of Moscow in the Transnistrian settlement, said Deputy Director of Information and Press of the Russian Foreign Ministry Alexei Zaitsev. Earlier, Moldovan President Maia Sandu said that Russia sent «its people» to Transnistria in 1992 to prevent Moldova from gaining independence from USSR.
Pushkov came up with a way to punish Moldova for Sandu's hostile remarksAccording to Zaitsev, Moscow drew attention to Sandu's words, it is hardly appropriate to say that the key to solving the Transnistrian problem is the issue of the presence of Russian peacekeepers in the region. «We call on Ms. Sandu and other Moldovan partners to abandon distant the reality of historical digressions and focus on resolving open issues of Russian-Moldovan relations, including problems artificially created by Chisinau, and (focus) on giving positive dynamics to the Transnistrian settlement process, including the resumption of dialogue with Tiraspol on all aspects of a comprehensive settlement,» Zaitsev said at the briefing. He added that Russia is ready for constructive, pragmatic cooperation with Moldova. publication «Europe yskaya pravda» stated that in order to resolve the conflict in Transnistria, Russian peacekeepers should be withdrawn from there. Igor Dodon, who was then the current president of Moldova, called this statement a serious mistake. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Moscow views this statement as undermining the settlement process in the region. Transnistria, 60% of whose inhabitants are Russians and Ukrainians, sought to secede from Moldova even before the collapse of the USSR, fearing that Moldova would join Romania. In 1992, after a failed attempt by the Moldovan authorities to solve the problem by force, Transnistria became virtually a territory not controlled by Chisinau. 5+2″
