The escalation of the conflict in Transnistria benefits Western forces who may wish to involve Russia in the crisis. This opinion was voiced on Saturday by Moldovan President Igor Dodon on Rossiya 24 TV channel.

“The destabilization of the situation in this region would be interesting for someone in the West trying to drag Russia into some kind of conflict here. But I, as the President of the Republic of Moldova, will do everything possible to ensure that there is no destabilization,” he said.

Furthermore, Dodon promised to oppose the installation of Moldovan-Ukrainian checkpoints at the border with Transnistria if they would cause economic damage to Tiraspol. “For my part, as the President of the Republic of Moldova, I can guarantee that we will do everything possible to keep Transnistria from this loss. If this leads to economic loss, I will advocate that these checkpoints never exist,” the President stressed.

Earlier, Russia expressed regret for the official launch of the Moldovan-Ukrainian border and customs control checkpoint Kuchurgan-Pervomaisk.

According to Artem Kozhin, the Deputy Director of the Information and Press Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the launch of the checkpoint ignores “known concerns of Transnistria regarding the steps that Chisinau and Kyiv made without consulting with Tiraspol.”

The Kuchurgan-Pervomaisk checkpoint was opened by President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister of Moldova Pavel Filip on July 17. Officials guaranteed that this would improve security on this section of the border and bring more convenience for businessmen and residents of Transnistria. It is expected that more such joint checkpoints will be opened in the near future.

However, Transnistrian authorities fear that border control on the part of Chisinau, with which Tiraspol conducts negotiations on the settlement of the conflict, will make it possible to exert pressure on the unrecognized republic.

  Transnistria, Dodon, Russia

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