You're reading: Transdniestria leader against peacekeeping format changes

TIRASPOL - Transdniestria will not agree to change the current format of the peacekeeping mission, the breakaway republic's President Yevgeny Shevchuk said in televised remarks on Monday.

"This peacekeeping operation is a basic element of security. The Transdniestrian side wants the peacekeeping operation to continue. Any changes of the operation’s format are possible only if the sides agree to them," he said.

Tiraspol does not want this topic to be discussed at 5+2 talks in Dublin on Feb. 28-29, Shevchuk said.

The 5+2 format includes Trasndiestria and Moldova as the sides in the conflict, plus Russia, Ukraine and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe as mediators, as well as the European Union and the United States as observers.

"We are not considering even the possibility of a discussion on the peacekeeping operation in the 5+2 format. We will be categorically against this discussion. We will demand that the peacekeeping operation continue undisrupted until a final political settlement is achieved," Shevchuk said.