Informal talks on the settlement of Moldova's breakaway region of Transdnestr in the "five-plus-two" format begin in Vienna on Monday.
The talks, involving Russia, Ukraine, OSCE, Moldova, Transdnestr, with the United States and the EU as observers, have been frozen since February 2006.
Last week mediators and observers involved in the negotiating process visited Moldova's capital of Chisinau and Tiraspol, the capital of Transdnestr.
The Russian-speaking province of Transdnestr has maintained de facto independence from Moldova since a brief war in 1992, which erupted from a buildup of tensions following the breakup of the Soviet Union.
Tensions in the region flared up shortly after four pro-Western parties ended eight years of communist rule in Moldova by forming in September 2009 a coalition government, which has openly supported unification with Romania and closer ties with the West.
The new Moldovan leadership has demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops from the country and the replacement of the current peacekeeping operation with a multi-national mission with an international mandate.
The peacekeeping operation in the region is carried out by the Collective Peacekeeping Forces (CPF), comprising 402 Russian, 492 Transdnestrian, 355 Moldovan troops and 10 Ukrainian observers.
TIRASPOL, September 27 (RIA Novosti)
