KIEV, Ukraine, January 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --



A scheme for the restoration of railway services between Moldova and Transnistria as well as measures to improve cross-border trading and telephone links would be "mutually beneficial" according to newly elected Transnistrian President Yevgeny Shevchuk, who also praised the assistance of Ukraine in helping to provide stability in Eastern Europe.

The leader of the breakaway Transnistrian Republic met Moldovan Prime Minister Vlad Filat and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kostyantyn Hryshchenko at a summit in Odessa, Ukraine, held in preparation for a new round of peace talks within the so called "5 + 2 format" (Transnistria, Moldova, Ukraine, Russia and OSCE, plus the US and the EU as external observers), which are scheduled for late February in Dublin, Ireland.

"In cooperation with our Moldovan partners, we could create a scheme for the functioning and restoration of railway services, which would be mutually beneficial," Shevchuk said. "The assistance of the Ukrainian side is very important here."

Ukraine supports and aims to advance the continuous dialogue between the parties surrounding the Transnistrian conflict and backs the main 5 + 2 format negotiating mechanism, in which Kyiv is one of the key mediators and guarantors. Ukraine today enjoys amicable relations with all its neighbours and has, since independence, been a recognised source of regional stability.

Transnistria is a breakaway territory located mostly on a strip of land between the Dniester River and the eastern Moldovan border to the Ukraine. Since its declaration of independence in 1990, it is governed as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), an unrecognised state which claims the territory to the east of the river Dniester.

The War of Transnistria followed armed clashes on a limited scale, which broke out between Transnistrian separatists and Moldova as early as November 1990. The fighting intensified throughout early 1992 when the former Soviet 14th Guards Army entered the conflict, opening fire against Moldovan forces. Since then, Moldova has exercised no effective control on Transnistria. A ceasefire agreement was signed on 21 July 1992 and has held to the present day. A 1,200-strong Russian military contingent is still present in Transnistria.

Formal talks on settling the conflict, within the multilateral 5 + 2 format, were started in 2006, dragging on without results for many years. However discussions have resumed in February 2011 in Vienna, Austria.

SOURCE Ukraine Foreign Affairs

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