US ambassador Asif Chaudhry pays first visit to Transnistria

The 5+2 format can be a viable way to settling the Transnistrian problem, if all parties agree to resume the negotiations, the US ambassador to Moldova, Asif Chaudhry, reiterated during his first visit to the Transnistrian region. The American diplomat stated “we cannot speak about surpassing the conflict, without the retreat of the Russian troops from the region,” the correspondent of Info-Prim Neo reports. On Monday, November 24, Asif Chaudhry met, in Tiraspol, with the Transnistrian interim foreign minister, Vladimir Iastrebchak. The meeting took place with closed doors. Further, the Transnistrian official stated for the media that a wide range of subjects had been discussed. The American diplomat expressed the availability of the US Government to allot funds for reconstructing the two of those nine European transport corridors, which pass through the Transnistrian territory (Platonov-Dubasari, Bicioc-Gura-Bicului), Vladimir Iastrebceak reported. The US Ambassador said that the most important issue they discussed was the Transnistrian conflict settlement. “The US policy concerning the Transnistrian conflict is clear and transparent. We are sure that Moldova should be a single free and prosperous country, but it is another issue how these objectives will be reached,” he stated. As to the traffic infrastructure, Asif Chaudhry said that the Transnistrian roads must be “a commercial corridor between the East and the West”.