Transnistria calls Moldova’s attempts to squeeze out Russian troops destructive

CHISINAU, April 17. /TASS/. Moldova’s attempts to squeeze out the Operational Group of Russian Forces (OGRF), which ensures a peacekeeping operation and protects ammunition depots in Transnistria, are destructive and escalate tensions in the security zone of the conflict, said Transnistrian Foreign Minister Vitaly Ignatiyev. "We need to understand that the OGRF and the peacekeeping mechanism are interrelated. This is a single unit, because the OGRF provides security for the warehouses in the village of Kolbasna and the rotation of peacekeeping battalions. Strikes, restrictions on activities, attempts at intimidation - they certainly have a negative impact on the course of the peacekeeping operation," Ignatiev said on the First Transnistrian TV channel, commenting on the message of Moldovan parliament Speaker Igor Grosu that the OGRF command was declared undesirable in Moldova. Ignatiyev said that the unrecognized republic sees Moldova's actions against the OGRF as "unmotivated and destructive." About 1,000 OGRF soldiers and officers in Transnistria support the peacekeeping operation and protect the warehouses, where over 20,000 tons of ammunition taken there after the withdrawal of the Soviet troops from European countries are stored. Their removal and disposal was blocked by the Transnistrian authorities in 2004 after the aggravation of relations between the two banks of the Dniester. Moldova insists on OGRF withdrawal and proposes to replace the peacekeepers with a civilian mission under an international mandate. However, the Transnistrian authorities oppose the idea because a civilian mission was unable to prevent an armed conflict in 1992, in which more than a thousand people died, tens of thousands were injured and became refugees. Transnistria’s President Vadim Krasnoselsky has repeatedly called for the resumption of negotiations in "a five plus two" format, which was frozen for more than five years. With this proposal, he appealed to Moldovan President Maia Sandu, who, after her election in 2020, stated that she did not intend to meet with the leader of the unrecognized republic. According to Krasnoselsky, negotiations are necessary to ensure peace and security, prevent any kind of provocations, respect human rights, solve economic and many other problems between the two banks of the Dniester.