MOSCOW, May 20 (RIA Novosti) - Russia expects Moldova and its breakaway republic of Transdnestr to resume full-scale negotiations on settling their conflict and is willing to offer assistance, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday.
Transdnestr, along with Georgia's two self-proclaimed republics, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, have stepped up their drive for self-rule since Kosovo's declaration of independence in mid-February, requesting that Russia, the UN and other organizations recognize their sovereignty.
"We will help the resumption of full-scale negotiations, and expect both parties to seek a compromise," Lavrov told State Duma hearings on conflict settlement in the CIS.
The foreign minister urged other 'players' in the Transdnestr conflict "not to interfere, but help the parties to agree directly."
While the views of other sides must be taken into account, they should only be aimed at resolving the situation, he said.
Transdnestr proclaimed its independence from Moldova following a bloody war in the early 1990s. Russia has deployed peacekeepers in the area since July 1992, and the negotiation process has been frozen since February 2006.
Hopes that talks would finally resume were given a boost after a meeting between the presidents of Transdnestr and Moldova, Igor Smirnov and Vladimir Voronin, in the Transdnestrian city of Bendery in April this year.
An opinion poll conducted in April showed that 76.4% of Transdnestrian citizens favored a resumption of talks with Moldova.
