Moldova wants new approach to Dniester, Russia calls not to hurry.

CHISINAU, October 9 (Itar-Tass) -- Moldova wants a new approach to the
settlement of the breakaway Dniester problem, but Russia called on the new
Moldovan leadership not to hurry and better understand all the details of
the situation.

Moldova's Foreign and European Integration Minister Iurie Leanca said
on Thursday the 2003 settlement plan was outdated and called for new
approaches.
"New approaches are necessary for an early settlement of the Dniester
conflict," he told a press conference after a meeting of CIS foreign
ministers.
He did not elaborate, but his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov made
it clear the new Moldovan leadership preconditions Dniester settlement
talks by an early withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers.
"To put it upside down - first withdraw peacekeepers and then we
shall agree - means the subject matter (of the settlement) has not been
fully comprehended," Lavrov said.
"I believe the new Moldova's leadership has to sort out all the
details of the Dniester settlement. The Russian contingent is present
there not because we want it, but because it fulfils an important mission
of guarding numerous munitions, the pullout of which was disrupted after
the previous Moldovan leadership refused to sign the well-known memorandum
in 2003," Lavrov said.
"I am convinced that as soon as the negotiating process resumes the
withdrawal of the remaining ammunition will become part of it," the
minister said.
"Our peacekeepers and Ukrainian peacekeepers from both sides provide
for the normal operation of the Dniester administrative border with the
rest of Moldova. Therefore, it is possible to decide on certain changes in
the format of the peacekeeping operation, but it should be done in the
context of general settlement as is envisaged by the memorandum drafted
with Russian mediation, which Chisinau refused to sign six years ago,"
Lavrov said.
In Moscow military expert Yevgeny Buzhinsky said Russia cannot
withdraw peacekeepers from the Dniester region and eliminate stockpiles of
munitions there until a political settlement of the conflict is ensured.
"As soon as political settlement is reached, the issue of ammunition
dumps will be resolved all by itself," he said.
He recalled the Dniester conflict emerged in 1992 when Moldova wanted
to unite with Romania, while mostly Russian-speaking population of the
Dniester region objected.
"Now the new Moldovan leadership, as 17 years ago, calls for
integration with Romania. If authorities choose the Georgian variant of
resolving the complicated problem, it would be difficult to avoid a new
conflict," he warned.
Buzhinsky said Dniester authorities bar the withdrawal of the
ammunition, as they view it as security guarantee. Besides, Ukraine
opposes the transit of the ammunition through its territory to Russia, as
well as the explosion of the shells close to its borders on Dniester
territory.
The expert said two Russian battalions with a total strength of some
800 servicemen are engaged in peacekeeping operations in the Dniester
region and guard ammunition dumps in the village of Kolbasna with over 200
thousand tons of various shells. 80 percent of the peacekeepers are local
residents. Howitzer shells produced yet in 1937 cannot be withdrawn,
Buzhinsky said.

.Moldova's Communists will not back Lupu as president.

CHISINAU, October 9 (Itar-Tass) -- Moldova's Communist Party will not
back Democratic Party leader Marian Lupu as president at the October 23
vote in parliament.
"Our lawmakers occupy a unified position regarding Lupu. To vote for
him would mean to vote for deteriorating social and economic situation,
for falling living standards of every family. It would mean to vote for
crisis, for the elimination of the party of Communists and its
disappearance from the political scene," member of the political executive
committee of the party Mark Tkachuk told journalists on Thursday.
He did not say whether the Communists will nominate their own
candidate.
The Alliance for European Integration has 53 out of 101 seats in
parliament, but needs 61 votes to elect the president.

.Timoshenko-Putin meeting postponed till November.

KIEV, October 9 (Itar-Tass) -- The meeting between Ukrainian Prime
Minister Yulia Timoshenko and her Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in
the framework of the bilateral intergovernmental economic commission has
been postponed till November, according to Deputy Prime Minister Grigory
Nemyrya.
"Such a meeting will take place. The time and venue are being agreed
and the talk is about November," he told reporters on Thursday, adding the
meeting will discuss energy cooperation, aircraft construction and
elimination of trade barriers.
Initially the commission was scheduled to meet in October in Kharkov.
Also on Thursday the Ukrainian fuel and energy ministry said the
country had completed the talks on joining the European Energy Community.
It quoted Fabrizio Barbaso, Deputy Director General of the Directorate
General for Energy and Transport of the European Commission as saying
Ukraine is joining the big pan-European market that will allow it to trade
in electricity and gas.
Fuel and Energy Minister Yuri Prodan said "Ukrainian accession to the
Energy Community meets the aims of energy strategy up to 2030."
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