European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton has welcomed the recent meeting in Germany between Moldovan Prime Minister Vlad Filat and Transnistria's leader Igor Smirnov, and the OSCE Chiarperson-in-Office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audrionus Ažubalis believes that the event will be a stepping stone towards renewing official 5+2 talks, Info-Prim Neo reports. “The High Representative warmly welcomes the meeting of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova, Vlad Filat, and the Transnistrian leader, Igor Smirnov, which took place on 9 September in the German town of Bad Reichenhall. Such bilateral contacts are meant to build consensus between the two sides on the need to resume negotiations in the “5+2” format, which have been stalled since 2006”, it was said in a statement issued today by Catherine Ashton's spokesperson. The High Representative also welcomed the adoption of commonly agreed regulations for the task forces set up by Chisinau and Tiraspol to work on building confidence between the two sides of the Nistru River. “The EU hopes the parties will agree to renew (official) negotiations when they meet again in Moscow later this month. In that context, the effective implementation of confidence-building measures and the continuation of bilateral contacts at the political level between the two sides will be essential building blocks for the success of negotiations on the settlement of the Transnistria conflict”, it was also said in the statement. In a separate press release, OSCE Chiarperson-in-Office Audrionus Ažubalis stated: “I believe that the meeting and the conference will be a direct stepping stone towards renewing official negotiations in the ‘5+2’ format”. He also expressed his hope that the renewal announcement would be made after the meeting in Moscow on September 22. Vlad Filat and Igor Smirnov met on the margins of an international conference which took place during September 8-9 with the sponsorship of the German Government and the OSCE Chairmanship, currently held by Lithuania.