WASHINGTON - The United States said on Feb 28 that it stood by Moldova’s sovereignty after rebel officials in the breakaway Transnistria region appealed to Russia for protection.

“The United States firmly supports Moldova’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

“Given Russia’s increasingly aggressive and destabilising role in Europe, we are watching Russia’s actions in Transnistria and the broader situation there very closely,” he said.

He called on Moldova’s government and de facto authorities in Transnistria to “work together and identify solutions to pressing concerns of communities on both sides of the Dniester,” the river that separates the breakaway region and Ukraine.

Transnistria is a predominantly Russian-speaking region, where separatists in 1992 fought a war with Moldova’s pro-Western government as the Soviet Union collapsed.

Two years after Russia invaded Ukraine, rebel officials in Transnistria said on Feb 28 they were appealing to Russia for “protection,” in what Moldova’s government rejected as propaganda. AFP