MOSCOW, December 18 (AVN) - A meeting of the Russian and Ukraine state committees on the Trans-Dniester settlement will start in Budapest on Monday, a source in the Fatherland-All Russia faction staff in the State Duma lower house of parliament told the Military News Agency.
The Russian delegation is headed by Yevgeny Primakov, the faction leader, and the Ukrainian party by famous statesman Vladimir Gorbulin. The negotiations will also involve William Hill, representative of the Organisation for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) mission in Moldova and expert group leaders of Moldova and Trans-Dniester.
The first ever high-level negotiations between the conflicting parties will last until Wednesday, the source said. They aim to clarify positions of the two parties in the Trans-Dniestr conflict settlement and define the strategy of further negotiations within the framework of the planned consultations.
Particularly the participants will discuss basic principles of the peacekeeping troops mandate in the breakaway Trans-Dniestr region. The document worked out by the Russian committee states that the peacekeeping troops which number 1,600 to 1,700 Russian and Ukrainian servicemen operate together with the OSCE. The peacekeeping troops commander is also appointed by the OSCE.
In addition to peacekeeping missions, the troops are supposed to provide security and assistance to smooth withdrawal of Russian equipment and armament from the Trans-Dniestr region. A special fund created under the OSCE aegis has accumulated USD2m for those purposes. USD30m more are planned to be allocated by the US government.