July 7th - In the framework of the working visit to Moldova Chairman of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Kostyantyn Gryshchenko visited the town of Bendery where he held a meeting with the Ukrainian citizens living there and the representatives of the Transnistrian region organizations. Mr. Gryshchenko discussed with the representatives of the Ukrainian community the issues of cooperation, of satisfying complex national and cultural needs and assured the Transnistrian Ukrainian community of the Government's support . "I find the communication of this kind to be of high importance in the MFA activity since the protection of interests of Foreign Ukrainians is both a constitutional obligation of our state and one of the priorities of its foreign policy" - said the Minister.

The Foreign Minister of Ukraine informed about the measures implemented by the Government of Ukraine to establish a new program to support the Foreign Ukrainians by 2015. At the meeting Mr. Gryshchenko particularly underlined the importance of supporting the Ukrainian youth in the Transnistrian region. "I am confident that joining efforts we will further proceed on our way to achieveing fruitful results in maintaining the national identity of the local Ukrainian community," - said Mr.Gryshchenko.

During the meeting of the Foreign Minister of Ukraine with the Head of the Transnistrian region I. Smirnov there was discussed the current situation and further steps in the Transnistrian conflict settlement. In particular, it went about the restoration of formal talks on conflict resolvution within a "5 +2" framework. Mr.Gryshchenko convinced of the need to expand confidence-building measures in the region and Ukraine's readiness to work with both parties.