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Vladimir Putin rejects outright the claims that Kosovo is somehow unique - "Pridnestrovie's the same," he says... (File photo)

MOSCOW (Tiraspol Times) - At an international news conference on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed U.S. suggestions that Kosovo was somehow a "special case". In the exact words of Putin, the U.S. State Department argument that Kosovo is a special case is "all lies."

" - We are told all the time: Kosovo is a special case," Putin said. "It is all lies. There is no special case and everybody understands it perfectly well."

He stated plainly that Kosovo was in the same category as the separatist conflicts in parts of the former Soviet Union, such as Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transdniestria (officially: Pridnestrovie).

" - We have Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Pridnestrovie ... and they say Kosovo is a special case?" he said, referring to the three unrecognized countries in Russia's near-abroad. "There are no particularities there and everyone understands this."

Russian President Vladimir Putin added that any European countries who support Kosovo's independence while not supporting the struggle of similar region's elsewhere should "be ashamed" of having double standards.

" - I don't want to say anything that would offend anyone, but for 40 years northern Cyprus has practically had independence," Putin told the annual news conference in the Kremlin, "Why aren't you recognizing that? Aren't you ashamed, Europeans, for having these double standards?"

Let population "make up its own mind"

Security Council members France, Britain and the US are firm in their view that Kosovo should make up its own mind, BBC reported. This generosity does not extend to Transdniestria, however, where leading nations have refused to recognize the right of the population to decide on its own future.

Transdniestria's own referendum on independence in 2006 was not taken into account by leading powers, despite results showing that the population backed indepedence nearly unanimously and that 94% were against any form of unification with Moldova. Only Russia's "Duma", its parliament, recognized the validity of the referendum and pledged to take the will of the voters into account.

In Transdniestria, ambivalence abounds over Kosovo's scheduled independence declarations. Many in cities such as Tiraspol, Bender and Rybnitsa hope that recognition of Kosovo by some countries will in turn bring recognition of the Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica (PMR, also known as Transdniestria or Transnistria unofficially). The recognition would ideally come from the same countries that recognize Kosovo - as long as these countries apply consistency to their foreign policy - but it could also come from others, such as Russia or other countries of the former Soviet Union.

Russian President Putin has not stated whether this would be the case, but explained to journalists that he does not engage in childish tit-for-tat politics.

" - We will not behave like monkeys and necessarily act in line or as a mirror," Putin said, hinting that Moscow would not instantly recognize the current 'de facto' independence of Abkhazia, South Ossetia or Pridnestrovie. "But of course, for us it's a signal, and we will react to such behavior by our partners in order to provide for our interests," he said. "We know what we will do."

See also:
» Kosovo independence to set precedent for Trans-Dniester [1]
» Kosovo's "inevitable" independence sets important precedent for Transdniestria; others [2]
» Kosovo seen as precedent by four more new countries [3]