Moscow Baffled By Sandu Claiming Need For Russian Peacekeepers To Leave Transnistria

Moldovan President Maia Sandu's claims about the need to pull Russian peacekeepers out of Transnistria cannot cause anything, but bewilderment, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th January, 2021) Moldovan President Maia Sandu's claims about the need to pull Russian peacekeepers out of Transnistria cannot cause anything, but bewilderment, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

In late November, then-President-elect Sandu said that she would insist on the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers from the breakaway region. She also offered to reformat the operation into a civilian mission. In a congratulatory message on her election, Russian President Vladimir Putin wished Sandu success, while noting that her statements about the need to withdraw peacekeepers contained nothing new. He stated that Moscow supports peacekeepers' pullout, but it should happen only after conditions are ripe for that.

"Yes, indeed, after being elected as the president of the Republic of Moldova, Ms. Sandu has made a number of public statements on the need to withdraw Russian peacekeepers from the left bank of the Dniester River. Such presentation of the problem causes nothing, but bewilderment," the ministry said.

Moldova, the statement went on, is well aware that the Russian contingent was deployed there as part of the Joint Peacekeeping Forces, which were established in accordance with the Agreement on the Principles for a Peaceful Settlement of the Armed Conflict in the Dniester Region of the Republic of Moldova.

The latter was signed by the presidents of Russia and Moldova on July 21, 1992.

"The peacekeeping operation's mandate is far from being exhausted. It clearly links its duration to reaching political agreements on the conflict settlement. The issue of reconfiguring the operation and changing its status can be raised only when a formula for a political solution to the Transnistrian problem is found. This is still far away," the ministry stressed.

Russian diplomats also noted that Moscow and Chisinau should now focus on the normalization of dialogue, which weakened in 2020 amid domestic political tensions in Moldova and the coronavirus pandemic.

Transnistria, which is mostly populated by ethnic Russians and Ukrainians, seceded from Moldova in 1990, fearing the latter's possible reunion with Romania. The split led to an armed conflict that ended in a 1992 ceasefire. De facto, Transnistria has become a territory out of Chisinau's control.

According to the unrecognized republic's foreign ministry, Transnistria considers Russia's military and political presence a guarantee of peace and security in the region.