After the working meeting, PMR Foreign Minister Vitaly Ignatiev and Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian MFA Vitaly Tryapitsyn answered questions from journalists.
The media representatives were interested in the prospects for the negotiation process between Pridnestrovie and Moldova in the light of Moldova’s application for EU membership. Vitaly Tryapitsyn replied that the negotiation process is currently experiencing difficult times, the 5+2 format is ‘on pause’ for objective reasons, influenced by the regional situation.
“The difficulties obviously did not arise today. They have a certain prehistory. Now the direct dialogue between Chisinau and Tiraspol in the settlement process comes to the fore. That is why meetings of political representatives and the orderly and effective work of expert (working) groups are important. Partly, it works, but, of course, a lot of issues need to be resolved, to have a substantive conversation about them. We hope that there will be some progress in this regard,” said the Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian MFA.
In turn, Vitaly Ignatiev stated that the negotiation process is stagnant.
“I consider it absolutely unfair to make up excuses for the stagnating negotiations by referring to Russian-Ukrainian relations. This has nothing direct to do with the negotiations between Pridnestrovie and Moldova, because problems in the negotiations have existed for a long time. The last hot topic is related to the signing of the Berlin agreements package, which has not actually been fulfilled by the Moldovan side. Then there was the disruption of the Bratislava 5+2 meeting. Unfortunately, everything went further downhill, and today we are witnessing the refusal of the Chisinau political leadership to have a full-fledged bilateral dialogue at the high political level,” stressed the PMR Foreign Minister.
Vitaly Ignatiev reminded that the Pridnestrovian side has prepared a number of appeals to the Moldovan leadership, calling for an early resumption of dialogue on a specific agenda to solve people’s problems and taking into account their interests.
“The medication problems remain unresolved, as well as all other issues, and the Pridnestrovians suffer from this,” the head of the Foreign Ministry added. He also said that despite the absence of meetings with the representatives of the Republic of Moldova, Pridnestrovie is open for a dialogue: “There is no alternative to the negotiations, but sadly our partners are not ready yet.”
At the same time, the diplomats commented on the issues of humanitarian cooperation between the PMR and the Russian Federation, as well as consular services for Russian citizens residing in Pridnestrovie.
