The first Moldovan-Ukrainian checkpoint opened in the Transdniestrian sector of the border with Ukraine is a provocation meant to escalate tensions, the Foreign Ministry of the unrecognized Transdniestrian Moldovan Republic said on Wednesday.

"Obviously, the joint control of Moldova and Ukraine over a sector of the Transdniestrian-Ukrainian state border is an intentional and provocative step, which targets, in particular, a strong response from Transdniestria," the ministry said in connection with the stationing of joint Ukrainian-Moldovan posts at the Ukrainian Kuchurhan border checkpoint.

"This unilateral measure is being implemented outside the framework of the international negotiating process and in disregard of Transdniestria's standpoint; it flagrantly violates the regulations on inadmissibility of sanctions and blockades, settlement of every problem at the negotiating table, and freedom of Transdniestria's international economic contacts on which the parties to the negotiating process have earlier agreed," the ministry said.

"No doubt, the purpose of such tactics is to provoke deterioration of regional security for the purpose of stepping up aggressive measures against Transdniestria. In this context, the Foreign Ministry calls attention of Moldovan and Ukrainian representatives and all parties to the international negotiating process to the fact that Transdniestria has taken comprehensive steps towards settling the problem with political and diplomatic methods," it said.

"Having demonstratively overstepped any form of civilized political dialogue, including the international format of the negotiating process on the settlement of the conflict between Moldova and Transdniestria, the organizers of this measure have thereby publicly assumed the full liability for possible consequences of those destructive actions," the ministry said.

Tiraspol also noted the role of the European Union.

"Moldovan-Ukrainian customs and border control on the border with Transdniestria, which has been pushed for with the direct support of the European Union, is an element of the comprehensive strategy of blocking, which inflicts substantial damage and gradually limits the potential of the Transdniestrian Moldovan Republic in every significant area," the ministry said.

"The unwillingness to listen to Transdniestria's arguments and the refusal to discuss this problem in the 5+2 format "are irrefutable proof of the exclusively political nature of the steps taken by Moldova and Ukraine under the cover of some international actors," the ministry said.

The ministry highlighted the common opinion on the joint control exercised by Ukrainian and Moldovan law enforcers, which the top three Moldovan officials, namely President Igor Dodon, Prime Minister Pavel Filip and Parliament Speaker Andrian Candu, expressed several days ago.

Moldova and Ukraine opened the first joint checkpoint in the Transdniestrian sector of the Moldovan-Ukrainian border on May 31.

A government spokesman told Interfax that the checkpoint had been installed at the largest border crossing point, Kuchurhan-Pervomaisk.

"The purpose of joint control is to facilitate the movement of goods, vehicles and passengers on the 'one stop - one window' principle, including customs clearance of exported and imported goods in the Transdniestrian region, among them excised commodities," the report said.

The Moldovan-Ukrainian agreement stipulates that Moldovan customs and border officers will be stationed at the Kuchurhan checkpoint in the Ukrainian territory bordering the Transdniestrian checkpoint of Pervomaisk.

The joint control will be exercised in two stages. During the initial stage, which will last for about six months, Moldovan and Ukrainian customs officers will jointly control exclusively exports of goods from Transdniestria. The Moldovan border police will monitor vehicles and passengers, register foreign citizens who cross the border in both directions, and notify interested persons of national migration laws.

The second stage will embrace control of exported and imported goods and also vehicles and passengers. No restrictions or bans that may change the existent border crossing procedures will be imposed on Transdniestrian economic entities and individuals.

The joint checkpoint, which opened on Wednesday, is the fifth crossing point on the Moldovan-Ukrainian border and the first one in the Transdniestrian sector.