TIRASPOL. Feb 17 (Interfax) - Russia will facilitate a negotiating process on settling the problem of Transdniestria and expects a tangible result to be achieved, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko said following a meeting with the Transdniestrian leadership in Tiraspol.
"During the meetings in Chisinau and Tiraspol, both parties told us that they stand ready to take a constructive approach toward resuming the negotiations in the 5+2 format and on some other tracks. Taking into account that the 5+2 format is the key and central negotiating platform, Russia will facilitate this in any possible way so that these negotiations bring about some concrete result," Rudenko said at a press briefing on Wednesday.
The 5+2 negotiating format brings together Chisinau and Tiraspol as the conflicting parties, Russia, Ukraine, and the OSCE as mediators, and the European Union and the United States as observers.
Rudenko said that while meeting with Transdniestrian leader Vadim Krasnoselsky, the two "extensively discussed a settlement of the Transdniestrian issue, highlighted the importance of the key format, which has no alternative, and we believe the stall in the settlement process seen in the past years should be ended."
"After all, we expect that the 5+2 format and the comprehensive settlement process in general will be resumed on a systemic and planned basis, and we will have several meetings this year. We hope we'll be able to achieve success on this path," he said.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the start of the peacekeeping operation in the region. "We hope this operation will continue to make its contribution to stabilizing the situation," Rudenko said.
On Tuesday, the Russian delegation met in Chisinau with Moldovan Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Nicu Popescu, and Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration Oleg Serebrian. The Russian delegation includes Ambassador-at-Large Vitaly Tryapitsyn, who is Russia's special representative in the Transdniestria negotiations.
On Thursday, the representatives of Russia and the other mediators in the negotiations will attend a meeting between Serebrian and Transdniestrian Foreign Minister Vitalie Ignatiev. This will be their first meeting after Serebrian was appointed to his current post at the end of January.