MOSCOW, July 14 (UPI) -- The foreign minister says Russia is willing to consider Ukrainian President Victor Yuschenko's plan for the Transdnestr region in Moldova as a starting point.
The Novosti News Service reports Sergei Lavrov said he and his colleagues are negotiating with their Ukrainian counterparts on the plan.
Lavrov said Moldova's efforts to settle the dispute without involving delegates from Transdnestr would not get anywhere.
"It seems that Moldova selected a course to economically suffocate the Transdnestr region and is trying to settle the issue by using non-peaceful, undiplomatic and non-political methods," he said.
Transdnestr has proclaimed itself a republic. Yuschenko's plan includes elections monitored by neighboring countries, the EU and the United States and an international peacekeeping force.
