The Moldovan authorities assured the US that there is no official secret deal between Moldova and Russia on the future of the breakaway Moldovan province of Transnistria and that Chisinau will further follow the basic principles in solving the Transnistrian dispute.
The statement was made by the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State David Kramer, the US's representative at the Transnistrian settlement talks in the "5+2" format, at a press conference on Thursday. He is in Chisinau with other European officials to inquire about the secret plan.
Karmer said that during his recent visit to Moscow he was not informed about the existence of such a plan by the Russian officials. He said that any proposed plan should be based on the key principles - Moldova's sovereignty and territorial integrity - and one of the basic conditions for identifying a solution to the Transnistria conflict is the withdrawal of the Russian troops from Moldova.
Recently, the electronic journal EUobserver said that the secret deal, first reported by US-based analyst Vladimir Socor, foresees the reunification of Moldova and Transnistria on a model that would give Russia-controlled Transnistria the power to block future Moldova government decisions and keep Russian troops in Moldova indefinitely.
The model suggests Moldova President Vladimir Voronin should recognize the separatist Transnistria government in Tiraspol, hold new general elections and then give 20 percent of parliamentary seats to the Tiraspol clan, as well as the post of deputy minister in every Moldovan ministry, including the first deputy prime minister job.
In another development, the US diplomat expressed his regret that the talks in the "5+2" format are being postponed, saying Tiraspol is to blame because it finds different excuses not to come to the negotiating table.
Kramer reiterated the US's position that the Russian peacekeeping troops should be transformed into international troops, except those that guard the ammunition depots. He considers that this thing can be done in parallel with the settlement of the conflict or before finding a solution to it.
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