Progress in resolving Transnistrian dispute was modest

Even if there were a number of unfavorable factors, first of all the political instability that is still felt in Moldova, the Transnistrian conflict settlement process in 2010 became more dynamic, said Valery Kuzmin, Russian Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Moldova. In an interview for the Agency Info-Prim Neo, the Russian diplomat said this dynamism was seen mainly in the activities carried out by the OSCE and the meetings of the confidence-building working groups focusing on different areas. “However, there was made no significant progress in resolving the dispute,” the Ambassador said. Requested to assess the work of the Alliance for European Integration as a partner in the negotiation process compared with the previous, Communist power, Valery Kuzmin said it was not reasonable to analyze in detail the activity of the AEI and of the previous Government of Moldova as they worked in objectively different conditions and had different motivations. But in both of the cases the final result was rather modest. Asked what role the direct dialogue between Igor Smirnov and Vladimir Filat played in the conflict settlement process, the Russian official said the personal contacts and the ability to understand each other represent obligatory preconditions for achieving results in negotiations. Nevertheless, what happened in 2010 can hardly be named a settlement process. It was rather a new start towards achieving the settlement objective, Valery Kuzmin said. As to the inability of the participants in the OSCE summit held in Astana to adopt a political document as regards the settlement of protracted regional conflicts, Valery Kuzmin said some of the states tried to force the approval of such a text that did not correspond to the real situation in the give areas. The Russian delegation did its utmost to pave the way for a compromise, but its efforts failed, he added.