The issue concerning the denunciation of military cooperation agreements with Russia by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, including the document on freights transit to the Russian military personnel located in Pridnestrovie, still remains the primary focus of mass media and expert community. Amid the economic blockade strengthening against Pridnestrovie and growing tension near the Pridnestrovie-Ukraine border, deployment of armed forces and heavy equipment near the borders of the republic, various forecasts of next events are made, calculations of Russia's potential to resolve any critical situation by its available forces and means…
Pridnestrovie's and Russian experts agree that in case of military threat, the leadership of the Russian Federation has to react hard and symmetrically.
«The fact is that the Russian contingent in Pridnestrovie is actually in transport and logistic blockade for a long time. These actions are aimed to isolate Pridnestrovie entirely, to make unbearable conditions for the Russian troops in order to reach the main and the most desired Western goal in this part of the former Soviet Union, i.e. complete elimination of the Russian military presence on the Dniester. According to the western strategians, this will pave the way for finishing off the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. Do the Russian authorities understand it? Yes, they are all very much aware of it and they are under no good illusion," the research director of the RISI Dniester-Prut Сenter Vasily Kashirin noted in the interview to the Novosti Pridnestrovya news agency.
According to the Russian scientist, the Russian leadership has a firm standpoint concerning the peacekeeping operation preservation on the Dniester in its present format.
«Any attempts to disrupt the peacekeeping operation will be taken by Moscow as an immediate threat to the security of all Pridnestrovie's people including nearly 200 thousand citizens of Russia," the expert declared.
In turn, the head of the National History Department of the Shevchenko Pridnestrovian State University professor Nikolay Babilunga in the interview to our correspondent voiced his opinion that Russia had to bring the issue concerning the blockade against its peacekeepers in the UN Security Council because that mission had an international mandate.
He emphasized that the West doesn't stop trying to present the Russian Federation as a party to the conflict.
«Why do Americans do it? The aim is to involve Russia in the conflict, but they cannot succeed. So, they want to engineer an attack against the Russian peacekeepers. Now, besides digging a ditch, Ukraine pulls its major end military items in there. However, Russia will have to defend its peacekeepers and its citizens in case of aggression," Nikolay Babilunga summarized.
The chairman of the Pridnestrovie's Supreme Council Security, Defense and Peacekeeping Committee Andrey Sipchenko emphasized that such step of the Verkhovna Rada could destabilize the situation in the region and along the Ukrainian border.
«It is a step which, certainly, destabilizes the situation. Alongside with the peacekeeping operation, the Russian troops in Pridnestrovie carry out one more important function, i.e. protection of warehouses in the Kolbasna village located in close proximity to Ukraine. There are about 20 thousand tons of ammunition, more than half of it is subject be destroyed, and all this is guarded by the Russian troops. Any person who knows something about the arms warehousing understands that so-called scheduled maintenance has to be carried out for safety. After all, 20 thousand tons are equivalent to a 20-kiloton atomic bomb. God forbid, something would happen," the parliamentarian told.
«Why do Americans do it? The aim is to involve Russia in the conflict, but they cannot succeed. So, they want to engineer an attack against the Russian peacekeepers. Now, besides digging a ditch, Ukraine pulls its major end military items in there. However, Russia will have to defend its peacekeepers and its citizens in case of aggression," Nikolay Babilunga summarized.
The chairman of the Pridnestrovie's Supreme Council Security, Defense and Peacekeeping Committee Andrey Sipchenko emphasized that such step of the Verkhovna Rada could destabilize the situation in the region and along the Ukrainian border.
«It is a step which, certainly, destabilizes the situation. Alongside with the peacekeeping operation, the Russian troops in Pridnestrovie carry out one more important function, i.e. protection of warehouses in the Kolbasna village located in close proximity to Ukraine. There are about 20 thousand tons of ammunition, more than half of it is subject be destoyed, and all this is guarded by the Russian troops. Any person who knows something about the arms warehousing understands that so-called scheduled maintenance has to be carried out for safety. After all, 20 thousand tons are equivalent to a 20-kiloton atomic bomb. God forbid, something would happen," the parliamentarian told.
«I am sure that effective methods of pressure on Ukraine and ways providing ordinary service of Russian military personnel in Pridnestrovie will be found," Andrey Sipchenko added.
The cochairman of Pridnestrovie's delegation in JCC (the Dniester peacekeeping operation governing body) Oleg Belyakov considers that there's a certain inconsistency concerning how Kiev, being directly involved in the peacemaking process on the Dniester, carries out guarantor functions in Moldova-Pridnestrovie settlement.
«There's some inconsistency. On the one hand, Ukraine is the participant of the peacekeeping operation; on the other hand, Kiev disables one of the peacekeeping operation participants. It's a direct message: someone tries to drive the Russian military component out of Pridnestrovie in order to create such conditions so that the entire mechanism couldn't function," Oleg Belyakov told.
At the same time, according to the head of the Pridnestrovie's delegation, activity of the Ukrainian representatives hasn’t changed within the peacekeeping operation.
«The military observers continue monitoring the situation, and the senior military chief from Ukraine continues making the decisions concerning the work of the peacekeeping forces as before. In practice, nothing has changed in the peacekeeping operation. The peacekeeping mechanism itself obliges to preserve the earlier reached agreements," Oleg Belyakov told.
The JCC cochairman emphasized that Pridnestrovie will do everything possible, «to support the Russian component's efficiency within the peacekeeping process».
«We clearly understand that, without the Russian Federation, without its function of the Pridnestrovie's security guarantor, it will be a problem to provide security of the PMR," Oleg Belyakov concluded.
