Ruptly
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed that the termination of the Russian military's control over ammunition depots in Moldova may cause 'serious consequences,' during a press conference following a meeting of the representatives of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) member states in Moscow, on Tuesday. "Russian peacekeepers, as well as Moldavian and Ukrainian, are in the conflict zone in accordance with the decisions of the 'five plus two' group approved by the OSCE. First of all, they solve the problems of maintaining stability in this region, which is fundamentally important, so that there won't be any outbreak of a new bloody conflict," Lavrov explained. The Russian diplomat also commented on the return of bodies and prisoners of war to both Armenia and Azerbaijan, saying that the process isn't being delayed intentionally. "It is difficult to speak of any deliberate steps that are being made to delay this process. We don't see it but it is a fact that there are objective difficulties that I hope will be resolved faster now," he said. In addition, Lavrov commented on the announcement by Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya of her intention to seek the disconnection of Belarus from the international system of bank payments SWIFT. "As for SWIFT, this is such an issue when some people wants the whole situation to be not improved but aggravated, and they continue to escalate their ultimatums and threats," he said. "The conclusion is very simple: we should develop our own mechanisms that will be independent of the West. Moreover, the West has repeatedly proved its unreliability as a partner," Lavrov concluded. #Russia #Transnistria #Lavrov #Moldova
