The PMR President: Resumption of negotiations with Moldova is inevitable

Tiraspol, December 23. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. Full-fledged negotiations to resolve the Moldovan-Pridnestrovian conflict are currently unproven. Pridnestrovie, understanding the importance of maintaining dialogue, consistently advocates for the return of all participants in the 5+2 format to the negotiating table. However, some of them aren’t yet ready for this, the PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky said in an interview with chief editors of Pridnestrovian television channels.

The head of state noted that, to maintain dialogue, he held more than 30 official meetings with foreign ambassadors as well as international organizations in the year of 2025, and at least 40 such contacts in 2024. However, none of this can replace the universally recognized negotiation process in the 5+2 format, which includes Pridnestrovie, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine, the OSCE, the United States, and the European Union. It was in this format that important issues were publicly discussed, decisions significant for the PMR and the RM were made, and agreements were formalized.

“Since October 2019, the 5+2 format has been blocked at the Moldovan side initiative. The format has ceased to exist, so to speak, de facto. It exists de jure, but de facto, it doesn’t work. Following the format, meetings of working groups have gradually ceased. And what is a working group? A working group is made up of specialists who discuss specific, topical issues. Law enforcement, the environment, healthcare, the economy, and so on,” Vadim Krasnoselsky noted.

The reduction in the number working expert groups’ meetings is not the only consequence of the negotiation process’s termination in the previous format. The PMR President reminded that the last meeting between the PMR as well as RM political representatives was approximately eight months ago, on April 8. Moldovan authorities have consistently set preconditions for Pridnestrovie to resume contacts.

“They (the RM political representatives) just don’t want to talk to us. That’s all. That’s how it’s today. […] And we’re talking about the necessity to continue dialogue. I don’t know of any examples where something ends without a reason. Everything always ends with dialogue and negotiations. I don’t know of any other examples anywhere in the world. Maybe someone does, but I don’t. One thing I can say is that for the present time parties aren’t yet ready for this (the 5+2 format’s resumption). However, this “for the present” will be completed, and the negotiations will resume anyway,” Vadim Krasnoselsky shared.

The whole President’s interview will be broadcast on the First Pridnestrovian TV Channel and TSV. An audio version will also be available on Radio 1. Also, you can read interview on the Novosti Pridnestrovya news agency website and in the Pridnestrovie newspaper.

It should be reminded, Pridnestrovie and Moldova officially entered into conflict resolution negotiations over three decades ago, in April 1994. Recently, the dialogue between the Pridnestrovie and Moldova, which has always been difficult, has been in deep crisis. Since the fall of 2019, Moldovan authorities have been blocking the 5+2 negotiating format (Pridnestrovie and Moldova as parties to the conflict; Russia, Ukraine, and the OSCE as mediators; and the European Union and the United States as observers). Furthermore, Chisinau frequently sabotages political representatives’ meetings and ignores initiatives to hold meetings at the level of the Pridnestrivian and Moldovan presidents.