TIRASPOL SEEKS DEPLOYMENT OF MORE RUSSIAN PEACEKEEPERS TO TRANSNISTRIA

The Tiraspol administration seeks the deployment of more Russian peacekeepers to the Transnistrian region. According to Transnistria's mouthpiece Olvia-Press, Tiraspol leader Igor Smirnov told on Tuesday a news conference on occasion of the "14th anniversary of independence" of the unrecognised Moldovan Transnistrian republic that he has already sent a request in this regard to Russian President Vladimir Putin. "The West and different international organisations, as for example the OSCE, do not hide their wish to change the format of peacekeeping forces and to exclude Moscow from the peacekeeping operation by replacing the contingent of the Russian Federation with NATO's soldiers. The West's efforts enjoy the support of the official Chisinau, which insists on inclusion of the United States and European Union in the Transnistria settlement process," Smirnov said. He stressed that the peacekeeping forces in the Transnistrian region must include Russian and, eventually, Ukrainian military since Transnistria hosts over 200,000 ethnic Ukrainians and about 80,000 ethnic Russians. "In addition, Transnistria's population belongs to the Slavonic people regarding its thinking style," the Tiraspol leader underlined.