Russia is planning to upgrade military equipment in service with its peacekeeping contingent in Moldova's breakaway region of Transdnestr, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said.
Russia maintains a motorized infantry battalion in the region as part of the Collective Peacekeeping Forces (CPF), in addition to a number of troops guarding several Soviet-era ammunition depots.
“Russian peacekeepers in Transdnestr will receive new armaments in line with the general plan to rearm the Russian Armed Forces [by 2020],” Rogozin, who is also a presidential envoy to Transdnestr, said after a meeting with Transdnestr leader Yevgeny Shevchuk on Monday.
Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov visited inspected the peacekeeping contingent in Transdnestr.
“He [the defense minister] made some conclusions that coincide with mine, and they will certainly be acted upon,” Rogozin said. “After all, it is not a guerilla outfit here, but a military unit.”
Speaking about Soviet-era weapon stockpiles in the region, Rogozin said they would be either maintained in good condition or scrapped.
The Russian-speaking province of Transdnestr has maintained de facto independence from Moldova since a brief war in 1992 following the breakup of the Soviet Union.
A joint peacekeeping force of Russian, Moldovan and Transdnestr contingents has been deployed in the area. Transdnestr seeks full independence, while Moldova says it is only prepared to allow autonomy.
The talks on the future of Transdnestr in the "five-plus-two" format, involving Russia, Ukraine, OSCE, Moldova, Transdnestr, with the United States and the EU as observers, have been frozen since February 2006.
