The 1997 Moscow memorandum, also known as the Primakov memorandum (after the then-Foreign Minister

Yevgeny Primakov Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov (29 October 1929 – 26 June 2015) was a Russian politician and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of Russia from 1998 to 1999. During his long career, he also served as Foreign Minister, Speaker of the Supreme ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

), was an agreement governing relations between

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistr ...

and

Transnistria Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), is an unrecognised breakaway state that is internationally recognised as a part of Moldova. Transnistria controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester riv ...

aimed at solving the

Transnistria conflict The Transnistria conflict ( ro, Conflictul din Transnistria; russian: Приднестровский конфликт, Pridnestrovskiy konflikt) is an ongoing frozen conflict between Moldova and the unrecognized state of Transnistria. Its m ...

. Translated from the original Russian text, the full formal title of the document is Memorandum on the principles of normalizations of the relations between the Republic of Moldova and Transnistria. The memorandum's historical importance followed the need for both

Tiraspol Tiraspol or Tirișpolea ( ro, Tiraspol, Moldovan Cyrillic: Тираспол, ; russian: Тира́споль, ; uk, Тирасполь, Tyraspol') is the capital of Transnistria (''de facto''), a breakaway state of Moldova, where it is the th ...

and Chişinău to normalize relations in the wake of the 1992 War of Transnistria. It was signed in Moscow on 8 May 1997, by Moldovan President

Petru Lucinschi Petru Lucinschi (; born 27 January 1940) is a former Moldovan politician who was Moldova's second President (1997–2001). Biography Early life and education Petru Lucinschi was born on 27 January 1940 in Rădulenii Vechi village, Soroc ...

and Transnistrian President

Igor Smirnov Igor Smirnov may refer to: *Igor Smirnov (politician) (born 1941), president of the unrecognized Transdniestrian Moldovan Republic * Igor Smirnov (scientist) (1951–2004), controversial Russian mind control researcher See also * Igor Mirnov Igo ...

, with the mediation of the Russian Federation,

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

and

Niels Helveg Petersen Niels Lolk Helveg Petersen (; informally Niels Helveg; 17 January 1939 – 3 June 2017) was a Danish politician. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1993 to 2000, having previously held the role of Minister for Economic Affairs between 1988 ...

on behalf of the

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, pro ...

Mission in Moldova. In compliance with the final clause of the memorandum, the relations between the Republic of Moldova and Transnistria shall be developed within the framework of a common state, within the borders of

Moldovan SSR The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic ( ro, Republica Sovietică Socialistă Moldovenească, Moldovan Cyrillic: ) was one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union which existed from 1940 to 1991. The republic was formed on 2 August 1940 ...

. The Russian Federation and Ukraine stated their readiness to become guarantors of the Transnistrian status observance, as well as of the memorandum's provisions. Chişinău and Tiraspol have decided to sustain the establishment of legal and state relations: the mutual decision coordination, inclusively regarding prerogatives delimitation and delegation, the safeguard of mutual security, the Transnistrian participation in the process of accomplishment of the foreign policy of the Republic of Moldova. The memorandum also gave Transnistria the right to independently conduct foreign economic activity, although later the memorandum provisions had widely diverging legal and political interpretations in Chişinău and Tiraspol. The parties reaffirmed the 1992 ceasefire and requested that Russia, Ukraine and OSCE continue their mediation efforts. Both parties agreed that the Dniestr Region would have the right to unilaterally establish and maintain international contacts in the economic, scientific-technical and cultural spheres.

Uppsala Conflict Data Program The Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP) is a data collection program on organized violence, based at Uppsala University in Sweden. The UCDP is a leading provider of data on organized violence and armed conflict, and it is the oldest ongoing data ...

Conflict Encyclopedia, Moldova, Peace Agreement, Memorandum on the Basis for Normalization of Relations between the Republic of Moldova and Transdniestria, http://www.ucdp.uu.se/gpdatabase/gpcountry.php?id=108®ionSelect=9-Eastern_Europe#

References

External links

Text of 1997 Moscow memorandum
Moscow memorandum Transnistria conflict Moscow memorandum, 1997 Moscow memorandum, 1997 Moscow memorandum, 1997 History of Transnistria since 1991 Treaties of Moldova Peace treaties Treaties of Russia Treaties of Ukraine Treaties of Transnistria 1997 in Transnistria {{Moldova-stub