As delivered by Ambassador Ian Kelly
to the Permanent Council, Vienna
May 30, 2013
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The United States welcomes the progress made in the latest round of 5+2 talks. The agreement on the protocol for dismantling the industrial cable car across the Dniestr/Nistru river between the towns of Rybnitsa and Rezina is an important confidence building measure. This measure has a direct impact on the security and safety of the people living in the cable car’s vicinity.
We support the efforts of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara, the Chairmanship’s Special Representative for Protracted Conflicts, Ambassador Andrii Deshchytsia, and the OSCE Mission to Moldova in their work to facilitate progress in the settlement process. We look forward to the next round of 5+2 talks in Vienna from 16 to 17 July, and hope that further concrete progress can be made. The United States strongly supports efforts to promote a peaceful settlement of the Transnistria conflict—one that respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Moldova and provides a special status for Transnistria.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
