TIRASPOL, July 19 ??“ Ukraine may ease its trade blockade of TransDnistria, Moldova??™s breakaway republic, now that Tiraspol has indicated support for a regional settlement plan initiated by President Viktor Yushchenko, an official said.

Igor Smirnov, the president of the TransDnistria, who was in Kiev last week, said that Yushchenko had promised to lift a blockade that had been effectively sealing off TransDnistrian border since May.