Donetsk, Nov 20 – DAN. The recommendations of the Moldavian newly elected president Maia Sandu on Donbass conflict settlement are irrelevant and unacceptable, said DPR Foreign Minister Natalia Nikonorova.
Sandu, who is to be inaugurated in early 2021, spoke to the European Pravda newspaper suggesting that Ukraine should apply the Moldavia – Transnistria interaction experience with Donbass. She said that the soft approach proved to be ineffective in the Transnistria settlement over 28 years.
"We draw the attention of the new Moldavia leader to the fact that it is wrong and irrelevant to compare the two situations. First of all, the number of Donbass war victims is significantly higher than that of the Transnistria conflict. If what Ms Sandu meant was a proposed escalation and renewal of military action, we recommend that she studies the facts and withdraws her support of an aggressive militaristic rhetoric, at least for humanitarian reasons," Nikonorova said.
"Nevertheless, we are grateful to Ms Sandu. Maybe her recommendation prompt Kiev into compliance with the UN-approved package of measures or make it recognize incapacity to fulfill the agreements and relinquish its claim to Donbass."
Transnistria, Transdniestria, or Pridnestrovie, announced its independence from the SSR of Moldova in 1990 in light of the impending dissolution of the USSR. It eventually broke away after an armed conflict in 1992. Transnistria has been recognized only by three states: Abkhazia, Artsakh, and South Ossetia. According to the 2015 Census, the population of the region was 475,665; as of 2017, Russian citizens amount to 213,000. *ot