Tiraspol, 15 May. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. Ambassador at large Sergey Gubarev, representing Russia in the negotiation process on the Moldo-Pridnestrovian settlement, has visited Pridnestrovie today. The current visit of the Russian diplomat to Tiraspol took place ahead of this year's first "5+2" meeting, which will be held in Rome from 29 to 30 May. The previous day Sergey Gubarev had a meeting in Chisinau with Moldova's chief negotiator Cristina Lesnic.
"I got acquainted with the approaches of the Moldovan side to a number of topics, including neutral license plates in terms of admission of Pridnestrovian vehicles to international road traffic," said Sergei Gubarev at the beginning of his meeting with Pridnestrovian foreign minister Vitaly Ignatyev. I told Ms Lesnic the main thing now is that the documents that took so much work to develop and that were so solemnly signed should not remain on paper. This is the most difficult aspect of this work. A nice document is difficult to sign, but it is possible, but to achieve its implementation is not always possible. I think this will be one of the topics of our meeting in Rome."
After the meeting with the foreign minister, Gubarev talked to journalists. When asked whether or not to believe the assurances of the Moldovan officials about the solution of the problem with license numbers and other long-standing problems, the Russian diplomat recalled a Chinese saying (Sergey Gubarev was Russia's representative in Taiwan): "Listening to his words, react to his actions."
"I was sincerely surprised at the pace with which the licence plate agreement was developed and signed. The goodwill of the parties was evident. I know that this agreement has become a certain set of compromises. But, I say it again, the problem is that this agreement should not remain only on paper," added the diplomat.
In turn, Vitaly Ignatyev stressed in an interview with journalists that Pridnestrovie would make every effort to ensure that the agreement on license numbers would come into effect on 1 September.
Sergey Gubarev also said that he had discussed with Cristina Lesnic the day before the issue of joint Moldo-Ukrainian control on Ukraine's border with Pridnestrovie. "Ms Lesnic expressed willingness to discuss the issues of 'not causing damage to Pridnestrovian economic agents and ordinary residents'," the ambassador said in this regard.
Vitaly Ignatyev noted that the understanding of the current situation in the Moldo-Pridnestrovian settlement was largely in Pridnestrovie and Russia.
"We are ready for a meeting in the '5 +2' format and believe that this is an auxiliary mechanism that should be a working tool and help in the dialogue. We would like a collaboration at all levels - from expert working groups to the format of the 'Permanent Conference...' to be intense and lead to concrete practical results. Therefore, we hope that the forthcoming meeting will be converted into agreements and practical achievements," he said.
Vitaly Ignatyev and Sergey Gubarev also discussed prospects for the development of bilateral Pridnestrovian-Russian cooperation.
