Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych
© RIA Novosti. Sergei Guneev
© RIA Novosti. Sergei Guneev
16:15 07/02/2011
Ukraine has promised to support a resumption of talks on settlement of the Transdnestr issue, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych said Monday.
Yanukovych met on Monday with the OCSE chairman, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Azubalis. Ukraine will hold the OSCE's rotating presidency in 2013.Ukraine has promised to support a resumption of talks on settlement of the Transdnestr issue, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych said Monday.
Talks on the future of Moldova's breakaway region of Transdnestr in the "five-plus-two" format, involving Russia, Ukraine, OSCE, Moldova, Transdnestr, with the United States and the EU as observers, have been frozen since February 2006.
Following Yanukovych's election as Ukrainian President last year, Kiev's official stance has been for granting special legal status for Transdniestr as part of Moldova.
"Ukraine stands for the early resumption of negotiations on the Transnistrian conflict," the Ukrainian president's press service cited Yanukovych as saying. "We will support all efforts by our partners," he said, adding that the conflict should be settled peacefully based on international legal norms and laws.
The Russian-speaking province of Transdnestr has maintained de facto independence from Moldova since a brief war in 1992, following the breakup of the Soviet Union.
Tiraspol insists on independence, and even integration with Russia, while Chisinau says it is only willing to grant Transdnestr autonomy within Moldova. Transdnestr also insists it should be an integral part of any talks or agreements on the settlement issue.
KIEV, February 7 (RIA Novosti)
