According to the defence minister, besides the unique peacekeeping format in the zone of the Pridnestrovian conflict (the involvement of the conflicting parties' contingents), one of prerequisites to the mission's success was the operational efficiency with which the Russian military executed the provisions of the agreement on principles of peaceful settlement signed on 21 July 1992.
«The success of any peacekeeping operation always depends on goodwill of negotiating parties. That's what happened here," noted Alexander Lukyanenko in an interview to journalists. «The key role in the success was the operational efficiency in taking decisions during the operation. The Russian peacekeeping forces promptly landed, entered the contact zone and took up their peacekeeping duties. Even if the situation had changed and there had been some political changes, it would have been too late to retreat. The Russian military did everything very quickly, efficiently and surely. And that's what I want to thank them for.»
It is recalled that on 21 July 1992 in Moscow the presidents of Russia and Moldova in the presence of Pridnestrovie's president signed the agreement according to which Russia's peacekeeping units — six battalions of Pskov and Tula airborne divisions — were introduced into the combat zone. Two days after signing this agreement the Joint Control Commission, a governing body of the peacekeeping operation, was formed. Today, the Joint Peacekeeping Forces consist of Russian, Moldovan and Pridnestrovian contingents, as well as a group of Ukraine's military observers.
