SPECIFICS OF THE NEGOTIATION PROCESS ON POLITICAL SETTLEMENT OF THE TRANSNISTRIAN CONFLICT IN THE CONTEXT OF THE UKRAINIAN CRISIS (2014-2018)

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to examine the specifics of the negotiation process on political settlement of the Transnistrian conflict in the context of events in Ukraine from 2014 to 2018. The article analyzes the transformation of the negotiation process due to the consequences of the political crisis in Ukraine, cooling relations between Russia and Western countries, deterioration of the socio-economic situation in Transnistria due to concerted actions of Kishinev and Kiev. The author comes to the conclusion about the possible transformation of the negotiation process in the foreseeable future due to the changed system of relations between the parties to the official negotiations on the settlement of the “Transnistrian issue” and the general geopolitical balance of forces in the Northern Black Sea region. The following factors that influenced the transformation of the negotiation process are highlighted. The first one is the change of teams of negotiators of the conflicting parties. The second one much more significant political crisis in Ukraine, reflected in the system of bilateral and multilateral relations between all parties involved in the negotiations. The results obtained in the course of the study can be used in the development of scenarios for adjusting the format of the negotiation process in order to increase its efficiency, taking into account the current geopolitical situation in the region.