DOCUMENT ON RESOLUTION OF TRANSNISTRIAN CONFLICT TO BE SIGNED TILL NOVEMBER

PanARMENIAN.Net
24.09.2008 16:46 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The second meeting this year between Moldovan
President Vladimir Voronin and leader of the unrecognized
Transdniestrian Moldovan Republic Igor Smirnov is about to take
place. That is but a prelude to an even bigger event, the signing of
a joint statement on the resolution of the longtime conflict with
the preservation of Moldova’s territorial integrity. That document
will be signed in the presence of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
and will launch the final settlement process of the Transdniestrian
problem. Moscow is rushing to show off its successes in this field
before the December meeting of NATO foreign ministers.

Authorities in Chisinau and Tiraspol are preparing for the meeting of
the two leaders. Last week, Smirnov announced that he had instructed
the Transdniestrian Foreign Ministry to prepare materials for the
negotiations. Smirnov said contacts were being renewed in order to
normalize relations between the two sides of the Dniester River and
"ensure peace, stability and prosperous conditions for the peoples
of the republic."

Smirnov did not specify the date of the talks. A source in the
Transdniestrian Foreign Ministry said however, that the meeting
will be this week. "We insisted that it take place on September
19, but that didn’t suit the Moldovan side. Chisinau is suggesting
September 23, but that isn’t good for us," a high-placed source in
the Transdniestrian Foreign Ministry said. "Now we are talking about
the second half of the week." The source said the negotiations could
take place earlier as well.

The place of the meeting remains unchanged. Voronin and Smirnov will
meet in the city of Bendery, where their first face-to-face meeting
in seven years took place on April 11. Since then, events have taken
place that clearly show Moscow’s desire for a final settlement
of the Transdniestrian problem and peace between Chisinau and
Tiraspol. Medvedev received Voronin and Smirnov separately in his Sochi
residence and assured them both that Russia would become the guarantor
of the future agreement between them, Kommersant daily reports.