Ukrainian and Russian Presidents Viktor Yanukovych and Dmitry Medvedev have signed a joint statement on the settlement of the Transdniestrian conflict.
The statement was approved after the third meeting of the Ukrainian-Russian interstate commission in Kyiv on Monday.
Russia and Ukraine believe that the Transdniestrian conflict settlement can only be political, and called on the sides to refrain from unilateral actions, according to the joint statement.
"The presidents of the two countries acting as mediators and guarantor countries proceed from the need to resolve the Transdniestrian conflict by peaceful political means through an equal dialog in order to determine a reliably guaranteed status of Transdniestria based on respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Moldova, constitutional neutrality and the formation of a common legal economic and defense space," the document says.
Moscow and Kyiv will continue making agreed efforts to restore mutual understanding between Moldova and Transdniestria, and "called on them to refrain from unilateral actions that could complicate the situation in the region and settlement prospects."
"Russia and Ukraine emphasize an important stabilizing role of the current peacekeeping operation in the region and call for the constructive interaction of all of its components," the document says.
Medvedev and Yanukovych also noted that in the Moscow statement of March 18, 2009, the sides had called for the transformation of the current operation into the one guaranteeing peace under the auspices of the OSCE in the context of the Transdniestrian conflict settlement and reaffirmed their readiness to actively participate in it.
