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Flying side by side over Tiraspol's main stadium, the flags of Transdniestria (Pridnestrovie) and the United States of America

TIRASPOL (Tiraspol Times) - The United States of America and the United Kingdom both sent diplomatic representatives to Tiraspol, the capital of Transdniestria, at the same time as Presidents Voronin (Moldova) and Smirnov (Transdniestria) held their first face to face meeting in nearly seven years this Friday.

While Voronin and Smirnov met in Bender, the second largest city of Transdniestria, both the American Ambassador and the British Deputy Ambassador held meetings with Transdniestria's Parliament in the capital city.

Here, Parliamentary Speaker Yevgeny Shevchuk first met with US Ambassador Michael D. Kirby and a number of other American government representatives in the Transdniestrian Parliament building in Tiraspol.

Michael Kirby, U.S. Ambassador, visits the capital city of 'de facto' independent Transdniestria and applauds the start of new talks with Moldova.

Ambassador Kirby was upbeat on the start of the talks between Smirnov and Voronin, saying that "All the participants in the negotiations want prosperity on both banks of the Dniester, so any steps towards solving the conflict are more than welcome." He added that "later it will be possible to say how fruitful [the talks] are."

Kirby and Shevchuk also discussed the possibility of American aid to help rebuild critical parts of Transdniestria's transportation infrastructure, part of which was damaged during the 1992 invasion from Moldova and part of which has fallen into disrepair since. The current social and economic situation in Transdniestria was also under discussion, Parliament reported.

More U.S. aid this week

The United States is already giving aid to Transdniestria's farmers, in the form of seeds. Russia is also providing aid to local farmers. In both cases, Parliament is overseeing the distribution of the aid, and US Ambassador Michael Kirby expressed his thanks to the Parliamentary Speaker for his assistance in resolving practical and logistical issues related to the American aid to Transdniestria’s farmers.

The American Ambassador told Shevchuk that his country's aid distribution in Transdniestria will continue this week.

UK Deputy Ambassador John Mitchell and Victor Muntyanu of the British Embassy, also in Tiraspol.

At almost the same time as their American colleagues, UK Deputy Ambassador John Mitchell and political officer Victor Muntyanu of the British Embassy to Moldova also came to Transdniestria's Parliament.
They, too, had scheduled a meeting with Yevgeny Shevchuk, the Speaker of Parliament of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (the new and emerging country's official name, abbreviated PMR).

According to the Parliamentary press service, the issue on the settlement of the conflict between Moldova and Transdniestria (Pridnestrovie) was raised at the meeting with the British diplomats. This was the same theme that was discussed in Bender at the same time between Vladimir Voronin and Igor Smirnov.

See also:
» U.S. Ambassador visits Tiraspol to urge fresh talks between Moldova and PMR [1]
» British diplomats hear Transdniester's side from Parliament, civil society [2]
» For Transnistria, US Ambassador wants solution that both sides agree on [3]