Iurie Leanca: We want pragmatic relations with Russia

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Iurie Leanca reiterated the Moldovan Government's position that the demilitarization of the Transnistrian region will contribute to increased confidence between the sides and to the settlement of the dispute in a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting a communique from the Foreign Ministry. Serghei Lavrov reiterated Russia's support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Moldova. The interlocutors stressed the necessity of stepping up the confidence building measures between the people living on the banks of the Nistru, making the negotiation process systematic and pragmatic and creating the necessary preconditions for resuming the official talks in the 5+2 format. Iurie Leanca said Moldova is in favor of transforming the military peacekeeping mission working in the security zone into an internationally-mandated civic mission. In another development, the two officials discussed social issues, including the possibility of extending the term for registering the Moldovan citizens in Russia from three to 30 days. They decided to finalize the agreements on the mutual recognition of education certificates, given that the two countries joined the Bologna Process, and agreed the program of the bilateral interministerial consultations for this year. Iurie Leanca is paying a working visit to Moscow during May 27-28.