At all existing level of dialogue, Moldovan officials prefer to stick to extreme positions on all the pressing issues on the agenda and use a language of pressure and threats when speaking to Pridnestrovie, the foreign minister, Vitaly Inatyev, in an interview with TASS. Об этом в интервью ТАСС заявил министр иностранных дел ПМР Виталий Игнатьев. According to him, Kishinev's strategy in relations with Tiraspol has not changed over the past decades.
"Problems are created for Pridnestrovie not to solve them. It is much easier for Moldova to exert comprehensive pressure on Pridnestrovie and reinforce the country's blockade rather than agree to remove specific social and humanitarian problems. So it is too early to talk about any progress in negotiations," noted the diplomat.
Ignatyev recalled that in order to resolve any conflict, a positive dynamic would be possible under two basic conditions — "first of all, the existing problems should be resolved in a consistent manner, and, secondly, there should be no regular inflow of new problems, which level the results of the previous agreements."
"In practice, we can say that the position and practical steps of official Kishinev make it impossible to comply with these conditions. Moldova's attitude towards the negotiating process with Pridnestrovie is careless. It ignores its commitments, as exemplified by the refusal to execute the agreements enshrined in the Berlin Protocol of the international meeting in the '5+2' format of 2-3 June 2016," said Ignatyev.
Referring to the effects on Pridenstrovie of the joint Moldo-Ukrainian border control, the minister underscored that the PMR was predicting a whole series of new restrictions on foreign trade and free movement which would be imposed as soon as Moldova starts to exercise full control at the joint crossing point.
"According to our estimates, Pridnestrovie may incur millions of losses, for which reason the so-called joint control is an obvious attempt to impose a total blockade of Pridnestrovie and compel the republic to make political concessions. In order to avoid further escalation of the situation in Moldo-Pridnestrovian relations, this destructive project, which blatantly violates many of the agreements, must be discontinued," concluded the diplomat.
