MOSCOW, June 23 (Xinhua) -- The UN resolution urging Moscow to withdraw troops from Moldova "could undermine the fragile progress that has been taking place in recent months on the track of Transdniester settlement," Russian Foreign Ministry said Saturday.
In a non-binding resolution adopted on Friday, the UN General Assembly asked Russia to complete "unconditionally and without further delay" an orderly withdrawal of its troops and armaments from the breakaway Transdniester region of Moldova.
The document was drafted by Moldova in a move viewed by Russia as "a frank advertising and propaganda course of some politicians in Chisinau who incited anti-Russian sentiments to earn points in the forthcoming parliamentary elections."
In 1990, pro-Russian separatists in Transdniester declared independence from Moldova. In 1992, the separatists fought a war against government forces. With a cease-fire agreement reached in 1992, the conflict has been considered "frozen."
The Russian troops, known as the Operational Group of Russian Forces, remain in Transdniester guarding the Soviet-era arms depots, although Russia pledged to withdraw them in 1999.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the timely intervention of Russian troops stopped the bloodshed in Transdniester in 1992 and created conditions for launching a process of peaceful settlement.
"To this day the Russian military contingent remains the guarantor of peace and stability in Transdniester," it said.
Moldova was part of the Soviet Union and became independent in 1991. Moldovan President Igor Dodon aims to establish close ties with Moscow, but his attempts were frustrated by the pro-West government.