Vladimir Putin: I would like to inform you that yesterday, on my instructions, the Russian Foreign Ministry officially proposed a Russian plan for regulating the situation in Transdnester.
The plan is a fairly sizeable memorandum setting out the basic principles for Transdnester’s organisation. The plan is the result of numerous consultations with the authorities in Moldova and Transdnester, and it takes into account as much as possible the vision that both sides have of that state’s future construction.
We think that if this plan meets with the approval of the authorities in Moldova and Transdnester, this will give a serious impulse to approving a new constitution for Moldova that would really reunite the state and end the many years of confrontation that have brought suffering to ordinary people, including the tens of thousands of Russian citizens living there. Political regulation of the Transdnester conflict would also remove the final obstacles to Russia fulfilling its international commitments.
I ask the Russian Government to cooperate with the Republic of Moldova in every way to support the efforts of the authorities of Moldova and Transdnester to improve the social and economic situation in the region and come to a rapid agreement on all the political, economic and social aspects of reuniting the state. We have an opportunity to make this happen and we also have certain plans for cooperation with the Republic of Moldova. I would ask the Government to pay attention to this. We have to consult with Ukraine and also with the OSCE and with all our partners involved in this regulation process, keeping in mind that the main thing here is for the two sides to reach an agreement between themselves, and not through third countries, including Russia.