Moldovan president to visit Moscow after New Year holidays ― Russian ambassador

Moldovan President Igor Dodon will make an official visit to Moscow after New Year holidays, Russian Ambassador to Chisinau Farit Mukhametshin told TASS.

"Russian President Vladimir Putin, when congratulating Dodon, invited him to Moscow. The visit is planned for mid-January. The date and program of the visit are currently being discussed," Mukhametshin said.

Dodon told TASS that "the visit is planned for January, after the ceremony of inauguration and New Year holidays." "We are comprehensively preparing for talks, taking into account many problems that have accumulated between our countries. We want to discuss resumption of supplying Moldovan products to the Russian market, difficulties that our migrants face, Transnistrian settlement. It is not easy to resolve these and other questions on the agenda," Dodon noted. The problem of export is connected with the agreement on free trade with EU and will require step-by-step solution, he stressed.

"As I have already said, this will require negotiations in the trilateral format, together with Russia and EU. I hope that will launch such talks already next year," the Moldovan president noted. "The second question is no less important. Over half a million Moldovan migrants work in Russia. Tens of thousands violated the migration regime for different reasons and cannot return to Russia to work. They need help," he said.