“The fact that Moldova has become much more active in its dialogue with the EU and the US, and the Transnistrian issue has appeared on the agenda between the EU and Russia, clearly upsets certain officials in Moscow”. This is how political pundit Oazu Nantoi commented on the statement made by Russian MFA Spokesman Andrei Nesterenko, who said that Russia's exclusion from the peace-keeping mission in Transnistria could cause armed hostilities. The expert said that Russia has been always efficient in exploiting the weaknesses of the Chisinau governments. “The statements of the Russian diplomat are based on an erroneous idea that the Transnistrian conflict is of internal nature, between the eastern side and the western side, and if the Russian peacekeepers were to disappear an armed conflict would inevitably erupt again, which is basically untrue”, says Oazu Nantoi. The expert said that the statement of the Russian diplomat is in contradiction to the endeavor to contribute to the settlement of the Transnistrian conflict recently assumed between the EU and Russia. He added that the upcoming heads of state summit in Astana in December could be an opportunity to see Russia's real position on the issue. Ion Manole, the chairman of the NGO Promo-Lex, which keeps a constant focus on human rights issues in the Transnistrian region, saw Nesterenko's statement as a threatening and manipulating remark. According to Manole, the authorities in Chisinau should insist on the replacement of the current peace-keeping arrangement with an internationally mandated mission. “No one says Russia shouldn't be member of this (replaced) mission, but it wouldn't be anymore the only member that makes decisions, keeps control and continues to provide support to the separatist regime”, stated Ion Manole. Manole added that Moldova has been placed in a “legal trap” by the former governments. “Moldova is unable to cope by itself with these challenges and there is need for insistence and perseverance on an international level to attract important actors and international organizations to the settlement process”, said Ion Manole. Andrei Nesterenko said at a briefing that Russia was puzzled by attempts to remove it from the settlement process, maintaining that a new wave of bloody confrontations could erupt in the region if the Russian peacekeepers were removed.