Giving Up Control Over Arms Depots In Transnistria Can Cause Serious Incidents - Lavrov

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd December, 2020) The termination of control over ammunition warehouses in the breakaway region of Transnistria may be fraught with very serious incidents, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday after the council of foreign ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

A huge Soviet-era weapons depot located in Transnistria's northern commune of Cobasna has been under the control of Transnistrian forces and Russian peacekeeping troops since 1992.

"The warehouses are in such a state that the termination of control over them can lead to very serious incidents," Lavrov said at a press conference.

The Russian diplomat also reiterated Moscow's readiness to dispose of these dangerous items, which are far from being in the best condition but noted that these efforts required cooperation of the parties, and, above all, the goodwill of both Chisinau and Tiraspol.

The breakaway region, largely populated by ethnic Russians and Ukrainians, seceded from Moldova in 1990, fearing the latter's possible reunion with Romania. The split led to an armed conflict that ended in a 1992 ceasefire. Since then, the Russian peacekeeping force has been present in the region. Although Moscow in 1999 committed to withdrawing its forces from Transnistria, a total of 402 Russian peacekeepers are currently deployed in the self-proclaimed country.