CHISINAU/TIRASPOL. April 11 (Interfax) - Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin and President of the breakaway republic of Transdniestria Igor Smirnov are meeting in the Transdniestrian town of Bender on Friday, the Transdniestrian presidential press service told Interfax.
The meeting is held behind closed doors, the press service said.
The meeting began about 30 minutes ago at the building of the Bender administration, a source with the Moldovan presidential administration told Interfax.
Two people from each party are taking part in the meeting in addition to the presidents, the source said.
In particular, Reintegration Minister Vasile Sova and Transdniestrian Foreign Minister Valeriu Litskai, who head a working group of experts and the Moldovan and Transdniestrian delegations at the 5 + 2 talks (Moldova, Transdniestria, Russia, Ukraine, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and observers from the United States and the European Union) are taking part in the meeting.
It is expected that an agreement to resume the talks in the 5 + 2 format will be reached at the meeting between the two presidents, which takes place for the first time since August 2001.
An agreement to hold a joint meeting, the first in seven years, was reached in a telephone conversation between Voronin and Smirnov on April 7.