MOSCOW. March 18 (Interfax-AVN) - The president of the self-proclaimed republic of Transdniestria Igor Smirnov has expressed confidence that his republic has the right to be recognized as an independent state.
"Given the legal, economic and actual life of the past 18 years and considering its previous status within Ukraine, Transdniestria has the full right to be recognized," he said at a Wednesday press conference at the Interfax central office in Moscow.
He said that that issues related to the settlement in Transdniestria were raised at his meeting with President Dmitry Medvedev. "With the president of the Russian Federation we discussed the political and socio-economic agendas," he said.
"We agreed that it was not us who had done it - divided a great nation and society," Smirnov said.
He spoke of the need for direct contacts to intensify the negotiating process in settling the Transdniestrian conflict and for "broader work of expert groups to develop confidence building measures and promote interaction on the Dniestr in the socio-economic and humanitarian spheres."