The Transnistrian settlement talks in the “5+2” format will be suspended for the period of the military hostilities in Ukraine. However, the official Chisinau will continue maintaining interaction with all the important external partners so as to advance the comprehensive settlement process, Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration Oleg Serebrian stated in a meeting with the Ambassador of the Netherlands to Moldova Fred Duijn, IPN reports.

According to the Reintegration Policies Bureau, Deputy Premier Serebrian underlined that the demilitarization of the Transnistrian region and ensuring of the meeting of international human rights standards in the region will create the preconditions needed for achieving progress in the settlement process.

The official also highlighted the necessity of peacefully and sustainably settling the Transnistrian conflict by unconditionally observing the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country.

In February, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Nicu Popescu said the Transnistrian settlement talks in the 5+2 format could not be held after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine. In these conditions, the Moldovan authorities should continue the discussions with Tiraspol in other existing formats, such as the 1+1 format. In a TV program last weekend, ex-foreign minister of Romania Cristian Diaconescu said the 5+2 negotiation format has only diluted a problem that “would normally take a few hours to solve”; the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Moldova were violated when a self-proclaimed republic not even recognized by Moscow was allowed to establish itself as a de facto autonomy.