As the rightful successor of the Soviet Union, Russia inherited the frozen conflicts in the Republic of Moldova and the Caucasus and uses them for geopolitical purposes to stop the development of these territories and keep them in its sphere of influence, political commentator Anatol Țăranu stated in a debate hosted by IPN News Agency. According to him, the large-scale war in Ukraine broke out after Kiev refused the scenario of Transnistrization of the so-called Donetsk and Lugansk republics, and Russia understood that it cannot control Ukraine according to the model used in the Republic of Moldova.
The historian noted that the Soviet authorities created conflict zones on the territory of the USSR in order to stop the dismemberment of the Union. Moscow tried unsuccessfully to generate in the Baltic countries a separatist conflict similar to those in the Republic of Moldova and the Caucasus.
“The attempt to create conflict zones on the territory of the Soviet Union, during the period when the processes of dissolution of the USSR began, were used by the Soviet authorities to stop the dismemberment of the USSR. In this context, the Transnistrian conflict and the situation in Gagauzia are relevant. There are documents confirming that the former Soviet leadership warned the chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the MSSR Mircea Snegur that if Moldova chooses the path of exit from the USSR, this will lead to separatist conflicts. And this ultimately happened. The Soviet leadership tried to initiate separatist conflicts not only in Moldova and the Caucasus, but also in the Baltic countries. But in the Baltic countries this scenario did not materialize. To this day, political scientists and historians debate the subject of the inability of the Soviet leadership to implement a separatist scenario in the Baltic countries,” said Anatol Țăranu.
He noted that the 1992 war on the Nistru was also generated by the ethnic and political differences of the population on the two banks. Russia accentuated these differences by supporting more the economic development of the left bank of the Nistru.
“We must take into account the fact that the Transnistrian region has never been part of Romania, except for a very short period. And that was a difference that was very cleverly used by the people who tried to ignite this separatist conflict. It is true that the Transnistrian conflict has no ethnic roots. But there are still ethnic and political components. The Transnistrian region has always occupied a special place in the composition of the MSSR. The Soviet leadership devoted greater attention to the socioeconomic development of the Transnistrian region rather than to the Bessarabian area. Compared to the political class of the Baltic countries, the political class in Moldova and the Caucasus proved to be less able to overcome these conflict situations and allowed the conflicts to expand into military conflicts. When the USSR collapsed, the purpose of these conflicts disappeared as these conflicts were created to maintain the USSR. Subsequently, the Russian Federation, as the successor of the Soviet Union, inherited these conflicts and used them for geopolitical purposes,” explained Anatol Țăranu.
Moldova’s ex-ambassador in Moscow explained that the expansion of the war in Ukraine was based on Kiev's refusal to accept the country’s Transnistrization. Russia wanted to stop Ukraine’s development by maintaining frozen conflicts on the territory of the neighboring country.
“There is a connection between the war in Ukraine and the geostrategic purpose of frozen conflicts. The war in Ukraine is explained by the fact that Ukraine refused to accept the Moldovan scenario of resolving the conflicts in Donetsk and Lugansk, by creating frozen conflicts. Kyiv refused to Transnistrize the country. The Minsk Commission on the Settlement of Conflicts in Eastern Ukraine was trying to promote the Transnistrization formula. At the first stage, the former President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko was ready to accept this scenario, but Kyiv stopped in time. And this generated an aggressive reaction from Russia, which led to the annexation of Crimea and subsequently triggered the full-scale war in Ukraine. It was clear that Ukraine cannot be controlled according to the model of the Transnistrian region,” stated Anatol Țăranu.
The public debate entitled “Curse of Frozen Conflicts and their Solutions” was the 312th installment the project “Developing Political Culture through Public Debates”, which is implemented by IPN News Agency with support from the Hanns Seidel Foundation of Germany.
