Russia warns Moldova
Posted: August 26th, 2008, 12:45 pm
This is the text of an email I received today from Loreen Itterman, missionary in Moldova for Titus International, based in Chattanooga, TN.
Dear Special Ones,
Thought you might be interested in learning that Russia is in contact with Moldova which has a breakaway region with some similarities to Georgia's situation. There is definitely an undercurrent threat in play:
RUSSIA PRESIDENT SEES SOLUTION ON MOLDOVA REGION
AFP (France)
August 25, 2008
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Monday he saw "good chances" for solving the long-standing problem of Moldova's breakaway region of Transdniestr, news agencies reported.
"It's reasonable to discuss already today the Transdniestr problem. I see good chances for solving it," Medvedev told Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin at a meeting at the Russian leader's Black Sea coastal residence at Sochi.
Medvedev said the problem of Transdniestr, which lies on Moldova's eastern edge adjoining Ukraine, should be viewed in the context of this month's battle between Russia and Georgia over the rebel Georgian region of South Ossetia.
Events in South Ossetia showed "how dangerous such so-called frozen conflicts can be, given that the Georgian leadership, as they say, went crazy," Medvedev said, quoted by Interfax.
"This is a serious warning for us all. It is in this context that we should view the question of Transdniestr resolution," the Russian leader said.
Transdniestr fought a brief independence war after the Soviet Union's collapse but is not internationally recognized.
It hosts a contingent of Russian troops and a Soviet-era arms dump.
Russia and Moldova have claimed to be inching towards a solution, in which Moscow hopes Moldova will permanently renounce any ambition to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.