ASTANA. May 20 (Interfax) - The next round of talks in the Five Plus Two format that seek to settle the conflict between Moldova and its breakaway Transdniestria region will be held in Astana on May 24, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.
The Five Plus Two talks bring together five negotiating parties - Moldova and Transdniestria as the conflict parties, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Russia and Ukraine as mediators - and the European Union and United States as observers.
"The initiative to hold the meeting in the Kazakh capital was announced by the OSCE chairperson-in-office, Kazakh Secretary of State and Foreign Minister Kanat Saudabayev, during visits to Chisinau and Tiraspol [the capitals of Moldova and Transdniestria] and has been supported by the parties in the conflict, mediators and observers," the Kazakh ministry said in a press release.
The Five Plus Two negotiations have been unofficial talks since 2006, the release said.
Speeding up the settlement process is one of the priorities of Kazakhstan as the nation currently holding the OSCE presidency. "Great importance is attached in Kazakhstan for the goal of having the parties agree to the restoration of the official status of the negotiations," the ministry said.
"This will be among the issues to be discussed at the upcoming meeting in Astana, along with key aspects of the political, economic and humanitarian components of this protracted conflict," it said.
On Monday, the Russian and Ukrainian presidents, Dmitry Medvedev and Viktor Yanukovych, signed a statement advocating a peaceful settlement of the conflict with Transdniestria returning under Moldovan sovereignty.