Tiraspol, 17 Novemeber. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. Pridnestrovie "categorically insist on the peacekeeping contingent being preserved on banks of the Dniester as the only deterrent force that excludes conflicts in the region," the Pridnestrovian president said in an interview with Russia's Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
Referring to the existing peacekeeping format as a whole, the president recalled that this was a joint peace mission with the Russain contingent making its basic part.
"It also involves the Pridnestrovians, Moldovans and 10 Ukrainian observers. This format has proven to be valid, so why change things? And the Moldovan president is speaking about neutral status. Does it mean that Russian troops, including peacekeepers, need to quit Pridnestrovie? How could the peacekeepers be withdrawn if no legal assessment has been given to the war of 1992 and no one has been punished for those events? Strange position," stressed Vadim Krasnoselsky.
According to him, should the Russian peacekeepers quit, then "in view of the experience of 1991-1992, there'll be provocations followed by a conflict."
The president clarified that there was an agreement signed by the presidents of Moldova and Russia, according to which peacekeepers were introduced in Pridnestrovie. The document clearly stipulsates: the peacekeeping mission is directly linked to the settlement of the Pridnestrovian conflict.
"Mr Dodon cites the example of Turkmenistan as a way out, whose neutral status has been confirmed by the UN Security Council. I can cite another example that is quite acceptable to us: the Czech Republic and Slovakia. They separated and live in peace. So, we can live side by side, trading with each other, maintaining normal relations, developing our economies," said Krasnoselsky.
