Vitaly Yankovsky, Transdnestr Deputy Foreign Minister, said, "We do not want to change the peacekeeping contingent," adding that Ukrainian observers could join the mission since talks about the issue had been held with the former and current Ukrainian leadership.
"There is no misunderstanding on the part of Russia or other intermediaries," Yankovsky said. "However, for internal reasons, Ukraine cannot join the mission and can only send military observers now."
Speaking about Moldova's demands to withdraw Russian peacekeepers from the Transdnestr Republic, the diplomat said Moldova was interested in resolving the conflict according to its own conditions.
"They think they can resolve the Transdnestr problem themselves," he added. "But military aggression is impossible due to the existing parity of the armed forces and military hardware."
"Moldova has a simple plan - to provoke incidents in the security zone, claim that the operation is illegitimate, and demand that the international community deploy some other mission, European or American," Yankovsky said. "But, above all, they want to remove Russian peacekeepers."
