Russia to act as guarantor of Transdniestrian settlement agreements - Putin
SOCHI, BOCHAROV RUCHEI. Oct 10 (Interfax) - Russia will continue to act as a guarantor of agreements which should finally resolve the Transdniestrian problem in the interest of all the people living in that territory, Russian president Vladimir Putin said.
"For our part, we will do whatever is necessary to settle the Transdniestrian conflict; we have discussed this with you many times. We will, no doubt, act as guarantors of the agreements which could, and should, finally emerge in order to resolve this problem once and for all, definitively, in the interest of all the people who are living in this territory," Putin said at a meeting with Moldovan President Igor Dodon on Tuesday.
For his part, Dodon thanked the Russian leadership for its role in settling the Transdnistrian problem.
"We had several meetings with the leaders of Transdniestria [...] There is a plan to resolve the current problems," Dodon said.
In addition, proposals were prepared and sent to Tiraspol on the "resolution of the problems with vehicle-registration plates," Dodon said. "We offered proposals on the resolution of the fixed-line problems, on recognition of diplomas [issued] by Transdniestrian institutions of higher education. This is short-term, something that we need to resolve at this stage. I hope that we will resolve these issues over the coming weeks," he said.
The long-term goal is to find a political solution to this problem, he said.
"We understand that these issues cannot be revisited before Moldova holds its parliamentary elections next year. I am certain that there will be a pro-Moldovan parliament intent on resolving this very important problem," he said.