The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PMR has noted adoption of the resolution titled “Complete and unconditional withdrawal of foreign military forces from the territory of the Republic of Moldova” by the UN General Assembly on June 22, 2018. In this connection, the Foreign Ministry points that the author of the draft document, as well as the mover is the Republic of Moldova – a party to the unsettled conflict and a participant in the trilateral peacekeeping operation that shares responsibility for preserving peace and stability on the Dniester. In this context, there is no doubt that the Moldovan side remains committed to revanchist ideas and tactics of destroying the peacekeeping format that proved its effectiveness in order to oust the Russian peacekeeping presence.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PMR stresses that Russian servicemen in Pridnestrovie perform tasks exclusively to ensure sustainable peace and security, and there are no other Russian armed forces other than peacekeeping forces on the territory of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. In this regard, the Foreign Ministry states that the presence of the peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation is fixed and regulated by the basic documents on the settlement of the armed conflict, including the 1992 Agreement; and transformation of the peacekeeping mission is possible only after final settlement of the relations between Pridnestrovie and the Republic of Moldova, which is confirmed, among other things by a joint statement of the Presidents of Russia, Moldova and Pridnestrovie of March 18, 2009. Thus, such demarches by the Republic of Moldova using authoritative international platforms are certainly doomed to failure and bring additional tension in the relations of participants in the negotiation process.
We also have noted the statement by the head of the Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration that the Moldovan-Pridnestrovian conflict is not an internal matter of Moldova, which indicates a clear understanding by the Moldovan side of the international character of the negotiations with Pridnestrovie, both at the bilateral level between the top leadership of the two states, and in international 5+2 format and within the framework of the mechanisms for managing the peacekeeping operation on the Dniester, including the Joint Control Commission.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PMR declares with all responsibility that no decision to change the format of the peacekeeping operation under the auspices of Russia can be taken without taking into account the opinion of Pridnestrovie. In this context, the Foreign Ministry calls on the representatives of the Republic of Moldova to concentrate their efforts on active work at the negotiating table in order to improve people’s lives and solve specific practical problems.
