Tiraspol, September 7. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. The military presence of Russia is the basis of the peacekeeping mechanism, which excludes revanchist sentiments and allows Pridnestrovie and Moldova to conduct a civilized dialogue. This was stated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Pridnestrovie Vitaly Ignatiev in an interview with the telegram channel Peace on the Dniester.
The PMR Foreign Minister stressed that that day the social and humanitarian issues of the negotiating agenda were much more important than the topic of the peacekeeping operation, which the Moldovan authorities were constantly trying to raise. However, it can only be discussed after the final and just settlement of the Moldovan-Pridnestrovian conflict, Vitaly Ignatiev noted.
“The peacekeeping operation will be relevant until we come to a final, just settlement and remove with guarantees the threat of a military conflict recurrence. When such a threat is leveled, then, of course, the issue of a peacekeeping operation will become relevant,” the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Pridnestrovie said.
The peacekeeping operation under the auspices of the Russian Federation has been implemented in Pridnestrovie since 1992 on the basis of Moldovan-Russian interstate agreements. It is recognized as one of the most successful in history: since 1992, hostilities have not resumed. In addition to the Russian Federation, the parties to the conflict (which did not exist before) - Pridnestrovie and Moldova, as well as a group of military observers from Ukraine take part in it. The peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation is formed from the Operational Group of Russian Forces in Pridnestrovie. According to the existing agreements, the peacekeeping operation in Pridnestrovie should continue until the Moldovan-Pridnestrovian conflict complete settlement.
From time to time, Moldovan politicians demand to withdraw the OGRF from Pridnestrovie and replace the Russian peacekeeping mission with an international civilian one. But any attempts to destroy the existing peace guarantee mechanism can lead to a rollback of the Moldovan-Pridnestrovian conflict to the situation of the early 90s. Due to the unsettled state and legal relations between Pridnestrovie and Moldova, there is no comprehensive agreement that would exclude the possibility of resuming direct military confrontation.
