NATO chief calls on Russia to withdraw troops from Transnistria PHOTO

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has urged Russia to withdraw its troops from Transnistria.

He made the remarks with Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean in Brussels.

“Good to meet Prime Minister Dorin Recean of our valued partner Moldova. NATO fully supports your sovereignty and territorial integrity, and we call on Russia to fully withdraw its forces from your territory. You can continue to count on NATO's support,” Caliber.Az quotes Stoltenberg as saying on his X page.

Currently, the Russian Federation holds an unknown number of soldiers in Transnistria, an unrecognized breakaway state internationally recognized as part of Moldova. This Russian military presence dates back to 1992 when the 14th Guards Army intervened in the Transnistria War in support of the Transnistrian separatist forces. Following the end of the war, which ended in a Russian-backed Transnistrian victory and the de facto independence of the region, the Russian forces stayed in a purported peacekeeping mission and reorganized in 1995 into the Operational Group of Russian Forces (OGRF), currently guarding the Cobasna ammunition depot.  

The Government of Moldova currently views the presence of Russian troops in Moldova as illegitimate and has called for their withdrawal and replacement by international forces. Russia however has opposed this. On 15 March 2022, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe recognized Transnistria as a Moldovan territory occupied by Russia.