MOSCOW, September 15 (RIA Novosti) - Igor Smirnov, president of the self-proclaimed Transdnestr Moldovan Republic, praised the Russian peacekeeping mission and said the country could play a significant role in settling the Transdnestr-Moldovan conflict.
"It is time that Russia took a high-profile position," he said, attending a Moscow conference, The Parallel CIS: Abkhazia, Transdnestr, South Ossetia, and Nagorny Karabakh as Post-Soviet Space Realities.
The president commented on the uniqueness of the Transdnestr peacekeeping operation saying, "Not a single soldier has died in all this time."
Smirnov said he was not asking for economic aid, but insisted on compliance with the 1997 memorandum stipulating the republic's economic independence.
He stressed that no talks were being held between Transdnestr and Moldova.
The Transdnestr armed conflict broke out in March 1992 when Moldova declared independence. Following that, the Transdnestr region, with its predominantly Russian population, proclaimed itself the Transdnestr Moldovan Republic.
According to official information, the Transdnestr Republic lost over 800 people during the conflict, including some 300 civilians.
The 14th Russian Army deployed in the region intervened in the conflict at the Moldovan president's request and separated the two sides.
In July 1992, the Russian and Moldovan presidents signed an agreement on the principles of a peaceful resolution to the armed conflict in the presence of the Transdnestr leader.
