Ukraine supports any steps aimed at the settlement of the Transdniestrian conflict, Ukraine's special representative for Transdniestrian conflict settlement Viktor Kryzhankivsky has told Interfax-Ukraine.
He was commenting on a meeting of the Moldovan and Transdniestrian leaders in Moscow attended by Russian President Viktor Medvedev.
"Ukraine supports constructive steps aimed at the settlement of the Transdniestrian conflict and backs the efforts of all interested parties that could assist in resolving the conflict," he said.
Kryzhanivsky added that the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry considers the restoration of direct contacts between Moldova and Transdniestria as a signal of the parties' readiness to return to the 5+2 format of regular meetings.
At the same time, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry hopes that the meeting of the parties to the conflict in Moscow is of a consultative nature and doesn't exceeds the frames of the agreed 5+2 format, he added.
According to him, Ukraine's position is following: until a final resolution of the Transdniestrian conflict is achieved, the maximum transparency of the talks should be provided through restoring the 5+2 format dialog.
"Ukraine, as a guarantor and a mediator in the Transdniestrian settlement, is seeking effective interaction with all the participants of the negotiations and is calling on all the interested parties to make the maximum effort to achieve real progress in the settlement of the Transdniestrian conflict," the representative concluded.
As reported, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin and President of the breakaway republic of Transdniestria Igor Smirnov signed a joint statement at a meeting in Moscow on Wednesday. The parties undertook a commitment to continue direct contacts in order to accelerate negotiations on the political resolution of the Transdniestrian conflict, the statement reads.
Smirnov said that Transdniestria, Moldova and Russia had reached agreement to create conditions for restarting talks in the 5+2 format [Transdniestria, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, plus observers from the European Union and the United States] in the first half of 2009.
