As was earlier reported by Novosti Pridnestrovya, Ukraine's MPs submitted to the Verkhovna Rada a draft law providing for denunciation of the agreement with Russia on the transit of the Russian troops through the Ukrainian territory to Pridnestrovie.
According to Pridnestrovie' Minister of Foreign Affairs Nina Shtanski, such actions on the part of Ukraine may bring into question the role of the state in the settlement of the Moldova-Pridnestrovian conflict.
«We believe that, refusing to fulfil its international obligations, including denouncing international agreements, the authors of these initiatives are aware that the degree of their responsibility for implications of such actions may greatly increase. Especially in cases when the guarantee mechanisms of conflict settlement are concerned, and Ukraine is a guarantor state and mediator in the settlement, as well as a participant of the peacekeeping operation through military observers. In this situation it is essential to realise that the existing peacekeeping operation is almost the only one efficient guarantee of peace and stability across the conflict region.
Any actions aimed at destabilising efficient peacekeeping format are inadmissible. Besides, they can put an even bolder question mark concerning Ukraine's role in the settlement. The question arises as to who will benefit from growing tensions at the border with Ukraine, which are contained today by multilateral efforts of peacekeepers and diplomats," said Foreign Minister Nina Shtanski in an interview to Novosti Pridnestrovia.
We recall that this agreement was signed by Russia and Ukraine on 25 December 1995 in Sochi, Russia. The approval by Ukraine's parliament of the above-mentioned draft law will mean that Ukraine denounces the international agreement signed with Russia on the transit of the Russian troops through the Ukrainian territory. The Russian contingent has been participating in the peacekeeping operation and providing assistance to the Operational Group of Russian Forces (OGRF) in Pridnestrovie for nearly 23 years, including in guarding the ammunition depots in Colbasna.
In fact, the agreement has not worked since March 2014 when Ukraine imposed restrictions on transit of cargoes transported across the Ukrainian-Pridnestrovian border, including clothing allowance for Russia's peacekeepers. Since that very moment Ukraine has begun to restrict freedom of movement for Russia's troops going to Pridnestrovie, as well as Russian citizens.
Hence, the draft law «On the denunciation of the Agreement between the Government of Ukraine and the Government of Russia on the transit through the Ukrainian territory of the Russian troops temporarily present in the territory of Moldova» submitted by Ukraine's MPs is an attempt of legislative approval of the previously taken decision.
