MOSCOW, June 25. /TASS/. Russia expresses concern with continuing blockade against Transdniestria that hampers normal social and economic life in the region, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday after the meeting between Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin and Moldova’s Acting Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Osipov.

"The sides exchanged opinions on the situation around Transdniestria and process of Transdniestrian settlement. The Russian side expressed great concern with continuing blockade against the Dniester River’s left bank that hampers normal social and economic life in the region," the foreign ministry said. "The prolonged pause in the work of permanent consultations on political issues in the framework of negotiations process on the Transdniestrian settlement in the 5+2 format (Russia, Ukraine, OSCE, US and EU plus Moldova and Transdniestria) leads to escalating tensions," the diplomatic agency noted,

It is important to prevent actions that can lead to further escalation in the current conditions of intensifying provocative rhetoric toward Transdniestria, including in the context of Ukrainian developments, the foreign ministry said. "The Russian side stressed that Chisinau and Tiraspol play the key role in normalizing dialogue between the two banks of the Dniester River," the Russian Foreign Ministry noted.

"The attention of the Moldovan side was drawn to growing number of instances of hampering planned rotation of Russian servicemen serving as part of the Operational Group of Russian troops and Russian contingent of the Joint Peacekeeping Force under far-fetched pretexts. The sides spoke in favor of looking for compromise solutions of this problem," the foreign ministry noted.

The sides also discussed during the meeting the current state of Russian-Moldovan relations in different spheres. "The sides expressed mutual intentions to give impetus to bilateral cooperation after the formation of a new cabinet of ministers in the Republic of Moldova," the Russian Foreign Ministry added. "With the aim of looking for ways to solve pressing issues in trade and economic ties, it was agreed to conduct another session of the Intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation by the end of the year," it noted.