RUSSIAN TROOP WITHDRAWAL QUESTION HAS NEVER BEEN IN UNITED NATIONS' SCOPE OF COMPETENCE - EXPERT

The Moldo-Transnistrian conflict settlement problem has never been in the scope of competence of the United Nations Organization. And the only decision on the Transnistrian issue, ever passed by the world's main Organization, is a convincing proof that the efforts taken by the OSCE to tackle the long-standing conflict are quite sufficient for the purpose.

Such is the opinion of Transnistrian ex-minister of foreign affairs Vladimir Yastrebchak, a former Transnistria's Political Representative in the Chisinau-Tiraspol conflict settlement negotiations. On Wednesday, the diplomat commented to the breakaway region's official press agency "Novosti Pridnestroviya" [Transnistria news] on Moldova's address to the United Nations to include the Russian troop withdrawal question on the September 12 agenda of the forthcoming Session of the UN General Assembly.

Vladimir Yastrebchak explained why such an address is simply useless - because if Moldova had really wished to cancel the peacekeeper operation on the Dniester River, it should simply denounce the Agreement on the Principles of a Peaceful Settlement of the Armed Conflict in the Transnistrian region of Moldova (of July 21, 1992).

"By addressing to the United Nations General Assembly, the Moldovan leadership wants to make the job with somebody else's hands - without making whatever effort. There were no foreign-political prerequisites for making such a step - not at all except perhaps domestic Moldovan political games and a desire to attract the international attention to an imaginary Russian threat. And if there are no proofs, they should be invented. And Chisinau does this job successfully", believes Vladimir Yastrebchak.

The diplomat presumes that the removal of the Russian contingent from Transnistria and the reorganization of the ongoing peacekeeper operation into a multinational mission of civilian observers under an international mandate of the OSCE or the United Nations may lead to fairly negative results - up to a new conflict escalation.

The Transnistrian news agency cites also the words of prominent Moscow political scientist Igor Korotchenko, Chairman of the Public Council at the Russian Ministry of Defense and Editor-in-Chief of "The National Defense" magazine, who regarded the Chisinau's address to the United Nations as "a purely declarative move caused inter alia by an unending political confrontation inside Moldova".

"In this particular case, nothing depends on Chisinau. It is Moscow who decides - it's an obvious fact. Transnistria should be absolutely sure that Russian peacekeepers will not leave the region. Any attempts by Chisinau or other players to change something in Transnistria are doomed to failure", stated the Moscow expert.