TIRASPOL, March 24. /TASS/. The breakaway Moldovan republic of Transnistria calls for the soonest resumption of the 5+2 talks between Tiraspol and Chisinau, mediated by Russia, Ukraine and OSCE and observed by the US and the EU, the Transnistrian foreign ministry said.

OSCE says preparations for talks on Transnistria to begin in near future

"(Transnistrian top diplomat Vitaly) Ignatyev has officially put forward his initiative to the OSCE presidency to organize the five-plus-two talks as soon as possible," the ministry’s press service said in a statement.

At the meeting, Tiraspol is expected to voice its concerns about Moldova and Ukraine’s plans to establish joint control at the Transnistrian section of the Moldovan-Ukrainian border.

An OSCE spokesperson earlier played down the concerns, saying that unofficial talks are sufficient for an exchange of opinions on the issue.

Transnistria, a largely Russian-speaking region, broke away from Moldova following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. In 1992 and 1993, tensions erupted into a bloody armed conflict that claimed hundreds of lives on both sides. A peace agreement was signed in Moscow in 1992 and Russian peacekeepers were brought into the conflict area.