Moldova urges Russia to withdraw troops from Transnistria

Moldova's Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Nicolai Popescu has urged Russia to withdraw troops from unrecognized Transnistria and liquidate an ammunition depot left there from the Soviet period.

The minister believes that the Russian Armed Forces are present in the republic illegally, which "violates the sovereignty and neutral status of Moldova", Kommersant reports.

He announced his initiative at a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on December 1.

"We strongly call for the complete and unconditional withdrawal of the Russian military from the territory of the Republic of Moldova in accordance with the commitments made by the Russian Federation in 1999 at the OSCE summit in Istanbul… I also wanted to draw attention to the ammunition depot... This warehouse poses a threat to the entire region and must be eliminated with the help of appropriate internationally recognised procedures," Popescu said.