Russian peacekeepers are the only guarantee of peace on the banks of the Dniester, said Tuesday in an interview to the Latvian radio Baltkom Minister of foreign Affairs of Transnistria Nina Shtanski.

in July turned 22 years since the beginning of the peacekeeping operation in Transnistria. World in conflict area support 402 Russian soldiers, 492 Transnistrian, 355 Moldovan and ten military observers from Ukraine. Service peacekeepers are fifteen stationary posts and checkpoints, which are placed on key sites security zone. However, from Chisinau at the highest level again calls for withdrawal of Russian troops, there has been an upsurge of arguments about the need of changing the status of the peacekeeping operation in the Dniester region, its transformation into a civic mission.

" The efforts of Russia there was the war stopped. Here are serving Russian and Ukrainian, and Moldovan peacekeepers. Attempts to squeeze peacekeepers is an attempt escalation of the conflict ", - said Minister of foreign Affairs of the self-proclaimed Transnistrian Moldovan Republic (PMR).

As said yesterday the Ministry of foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Moscow considers Attempts extrusion from the Transnistrian region of the Russian peacekeepers " As unfriendly to Russia shares, undermining the foundations of peacekeeping operations on the Dniester and contrary to the spirit and letter of the Treaty on friendship and cooperation Between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Moldova ".

Transnistria, 60 percent of its inhabitants are Russians and Ukrainians, sought to secede from Moldova even before the collapse of the USSR, fearing that on the wave of nationalism Moldova will join Romania. In 1992, after the failed Attempt of the authorities of Moldova force to solve the problem, Transnistria was in fact not controlled by the Chisinau area. Tiraspol seeks international recognition, Moldova invites the Transnistrians autonomy of a single country.

sections: Politics