The Russian Federation insists on establishing a Russian consulate in the Transnistrian region. The issue was discussed in the Moldovan-Russian interministerial consultations held in Moscow on March 5-6. The Moldovan delegation was led by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Andrei Popov, while the Russian one by Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting the official website of the Russian Foreign Ministry. Russia repeatedly announced its intention to open a consulate in Tiraspol because there are many Russians living on the left side of the Nistru. The Moldovan constitutional authorities refuse to give their consent for setting up a consulate on the uncontrolled territory. President Nicolae Timofti said that until Russia does not pull out its troops and mentions from Transnistria, he will not consent to opening a consulate on this territory. According to a communiqué from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of Moldova, the discussions in Moscow centered on the Moldovan-Russian cooperation in the political, economic and humanitarian spheres. The interlocutors stressed the importance of maintaining the positive pace of the bilateral contacts witnessed in 2012, of strengthening the commercial-economic cooperation and of identifying mutually advantageous solutions to the problems existing in the energy sector.