US President George W. Bush and visiting Romanian President Traian Basescu said Thursday they disapproved of foreign interference in Moldova, a veiled criticism of a Russian troop presence there.
"I assured him that the United States' position on Moldova is that we support the territorial integrity of Moldova," Bush told reporters as he met with his guest in the White House Oval Office.
"We analyzed the situation of Moldova and the necessity of having the Republic of Moldova with its territory unaffected by anybody," said Basescu.
Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin called on Russia last week to pull out peacekeeping troops it has stationed in the breakaway Moldovan province of Transdnestr.
Moscow committed to pull out forces from the internationally recognised borders of both Moldova and Georgia under the 1999 adapted Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty.
But Russian officials say that the presence of peacekeepers in the breakaway territories of Georgia and Moldova helps ensure there is no return to armed conflict there.
Transdnestr, which runs 460 kilometres (285 miles) along the border between Ukraine and Moldova, declared independence in August 1991 before the end of the Soviet Union.
The province fought a war in 1992 to break away from Moldova in which hundreds of people were killed. Transdnestr has received backing from Russia, which also keeps a large arms arsenal in the territory.
