(Reuters) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned Moldova on Thursday that threatening the security of Russian troops in the breakaway region of Transdniestria risked triggering military confrontation with Moscow.
Russia has stationed peacekeeping troops in Transdniestria since the early 1990s, when an armed conflict saw pro-Russian separatists wrest most of the region from Moldovan control.
Russia says its army is there to maintain peace and stability, but Moldova wants Moscow to withdraw its forces.
“Everyone should understand that any action that would threaten the security of our troops (in Transdniestria) would be considered under international law as an attack on Russia, as was the case in South Ossetia when our peacekeepers were attacked by (former Georgian president) Saakashvili,” Lavrov said.
That incident, in 2008, resulted in a five-day war in which Russian forces seized several Georgian cities. Shortly afterwards, Moscow recognised South Ossetia and another Georgian breakaway territory, Abkhazia, as independent.
Transdniestria, which relies heavily on Moscow for support, reported a series of sporadic attacks in April, further raising tensions that were already high following Russia’s intervention in Ukraine, which borders Moldova.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
