 In recent years, negotiations between the Transnistrian and Moldovan leaders have been going on under the mediation of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Russia, and Ukraine; lately observers from the European Union and the United States have become involved, creating a 5+2 format.In the wake of the November 2003 deadlock with Russia, a series of shifts in the external policy of Moldova occurred, targeted at rapprochement with the European Union.In the context of the EU's expansion to the east, Moldova wants to sign the Stability and Association Agreement.