A meeting of Acting Foreign Minister of the PMR Vitaly Ignatiev with Special Envoy of Ukraine for the negotiation process, Ambassador-at-Large Valery Zhovtenko, who made his first visit to Pridnestrovie took place at the PMR's MFA. The meeting was also attended by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the Republic of Moldova Ivan Gnatyshin.
Welcoming the guests, Vitaly Ignatiev stressed the importance of Ukraine’s role as a guarantor country, “without participation of which it is extremely difficult to achieve stable, balanced, positive long-term solutions”.
“I hope that your appointment to this responsible post will give an additional impetus to the dialogue between Pridnestrovie and Moldova, will enable to engage in substantive resolution of a number of difficult issues that have accumulated in relations between the sides,” the diplomat noted.
During the meeting, the head of the foreign ministry detailed the current situation in the negotiation process, drawing the interlocutor’s attention to the fact that the Moldovan side in relations with Pridnestrovie continues to maintain the tactics of unilateral restrictive measures negatively affecting the socio-economic situation in Pridnestrovie. In this context, the diplomat also stressed that Moldova’s representatives demonstrate unwillingness to substantive work up to now, especially at the level of specialized expert (working) groups.
“We have expressed our concern about the current situation, because the negotiation process is in the stagnant state, in our opinion. Despite the declared readiness for dialogue, the Moldovan counterparts torpedo the normal systematic work of expert (working) groups. We have not yet received an answer on any of the proposals prepared by Pridnestrovie on the most acute problems,” said Acting Foreign Minister of the PMR on the results of the meeting.
In the course of the dialogue Vitaly Ignatiev highlighted some issues which are extremely sensitive for Pridnestrovie, in particular the agreement between Moldova and Ukraine on the establishment of joint customs and border control on the Pridnestrovian border at the checkpoint “Kuchurgan”. The diplomat drew the Ukrainian representative’s attention to the inadmissibility to implement the discriminatory decision and urged to pay close attention to the problem, because it can result in extremely negative consequences for the economy of Pridnestrovie, freedom of movement of Pridnestrovian citizens, as well as for political dialogue between Pridnestrovie and Moldova as a whole.
Vitaly Ignatiev expressed the Pridnestrovian side’s readiness to build up the dynamics of contacts which will be of “a bilateral nature, but not only mediated by the negotiation process”, in order to improve the Pridnestrovian-Ukrainian cooperation on a wide range of areas.
At the end of the meeting the sides agreed to continue direct contacts on matters of mutual interest.
