In an interview with the "Russia 24" TV channel, Pridnestrovian Foreign Minister Vitaly Ignatiev commented on the statements of the President-elect of the Republic of Moldova Maia Sandu regarding the need to withdraw the Operational Group of Russian Forces in Pridnestrovie, as well as to replace the existing peacekeeping operation on the Dniester with a civilian observer mission under the OSCE auspices.
According to the diplomat, for actually 28 years, the Pridnestrovian side has already been confronted with such statements made by Moldovan representatives, including from high tribunes, for example the United Nations.
“There are several important points that need to be understood. The peacekeeping operation is the only basis and guarantor of peace in our country; it is the element that gives us the basis to conduct the negotiation process in a peaceful manner. For 28 years, the peacekeeping operation has shown its effectiveness and high stability. In the basic agreement, that was signed on July 21, 1992, there are no elements for transforming the peacekeeping operation, changing it into the format of a certain mission of civilian observers under the OSCE auspices. That is, either the 92-year agreement is being implemented and peace and security reign on the banks of the Dniester, or someone from the parties to this agreement leaves it, and then the situation, of course returns to the beginning of the conflict, " the PMR Foreign Minister noted.
Vitaly Ignatiev stressed that changing the format of the peacekeeping operation is impossible until the final settlement of the Moldovan-Pridnestrovian conflict, and this is the position that "all international participants in the settlement denote." He also recalled that this provision is contained in the Joint Statement of Presidents of Moldova, Pridnestrovie and the Russian Federation dated March 18, 2009.
“Therefore, until we reach a political consensus, until we find the final, comprehensive formula for a settlement, we cannot say it is to some extent possible to transform the peacekeeping operation. Firstly, because there are no mechanisms for this transformation and secondly, and probably most important, there are no prerequisites for somehow dealing with peacekeeping operation uninstalling. The conflict is unfortunately open, we have very negative dynamics on the settlement track and over recent years there has been stagnation in the negotiation process. The agreements that we reached in 2016, 2017, 2018 with Moldova are not respected by the Moldovan side, so today there is no reason to say that the peacekeeping operation has exhausted itself and can somehow be transformed,” the Minister concluded.
