Overview
- Talks in Tiraspol ended without progress, with Chisinau and the separatist authorities trading blame for the impasse.
- Moldova tightened controls by barring entry to 1,500 Russian peacekeepers who have patrolled the buffer zone since the early 1990s.
- Moscow renewed its call for an immediate, unconditional return to 5+2 negotiations, arguing the smaller 1+1 meetings have not worked.
- Russian officials accused Moldova, backed by Western partners, of squeezing Transnistria through taxes, trade rules, and limits on movement, while saying Russia is protecting its citizens there.
- The 5+2 format—Moldova, Transnistria, the OSCE, Russia, Ukraine, with the U.S. and EU as observers—has been inactive since 2019 after a 1992 ceasefire left the conflict largely frozen.