Russia–Transnistria relations are the
bilateral relations between the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (Transnistria), an unrecognised breakaway state that is internationally recognised as part of
Moldova, and the
Russian Federation. Russia does not
officially recognise the independence of Transnistria; nevertheless, Russia maintains special relations with Transnistria in the political, military, cultural, and economic spheres.
History
The state of Transnistria was created by local economic elites with special relations to the Soviet and later Russian political centre.[1]
During the reign of
Igor Smirnov (1991–2011) maintaining special relations with Russia was a priority of Transnistrian foreign policy.[2] In the
2006 Transnistrian independence referendum, 98.07% of Transnistrians voted for independence and potential future integration into Russia.
During a visit to Kyiv in 2010, President
Dmitri Medvedev said he supported a "special status" for Transnistria and recognised the "important and stabilising" role of the Russian army.[5] In the early 2010s, experts estimated that Russia is aiming for a so-called "Taiwanisation" of Transnistria.[6]
In 2021, the Transnistrian foreign minister
Vitaly Ignatiev visited Russia and met with a Russian Ambassador-at-Large. During their conversation, the two representatives discussed various fields of Russian-Transnistrian relations, including the
COVID-19 pandemic in Transnistria.[7]
On 22 April 2022, following the
Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian
major generalRustam Minnekayev said that one of the objectives of the invasion was to establish a land corridor with occupied Transnistria, claiming that there was "evidence that the Russian-speaking population is being oppressed" in the region without giving further detail on the issue.[8][9]
In February 2024, Transnistria officials asked Russia for "protection" while accusing Moldova of blocking imports in an "economic war" and turning the region into a "
ghetto".
Consular relations
In 2012,
Russia opened a consulate in Transnistria, despite protests of the government of
Moldova.[10] Nevertheless, Russia has not recognized Transnistria as an independent state.
In 2017, Transnistria opened a provisional bureau in Moscow.[11] Alexandru Caraman, former vice-president of Transnistria (1990–2001) and former foreign minister of the
Donetsk People's Republic (2014), led the bureau, which was shortly thereafter closed.[12] Two years later, an official diplomatic bureau of Transnistria was opened in Moscow.[13] Later that year, the Transnistrian government asked Russian authorities if they could issue passports and other documents in the diplomatic bureau.[14] The bureau is located in
Povarskaya Street and currently led by Leonid Manakov, the Vice President of the Lawyer’s Union of the Russian Federation.[15]
^Jan Zofka: Postsowjetischer Separatismus: Die pro-russländischen Bewegungen im moldauischen Dnjestr-Tal und auf der Krim 1989–1995, Göttingen: Wallstein Verlag, 2015, passim.
^Marcin Kosienkowski: Continuity and Change in Transnistria’s Foreign Policy after the 2011 Presidential Elections, Lublin: The Catholic University of Lublin Publishing House, 2012, p. 23.
Available here.
^Helena Rytövuori-Apunen: Power and Conflict in Russia’s Borderlands: The Post-Soviet Geopolitics of Dispute Resolution, London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019, p. 122.
Google Books preview here.Archived 2021-08-11 at the
Wayback Machine.