Russia warns West, Ukraine against 'provacation' over rebel Moldovan region

Moscow, Feb 24 Warning Ukraine and NATO against an "provocation" in the Moldovan breakaway region of Transnistria, Russia on Friday said that any action that poses a threat to Russian peacekeepers or nationals there will be seen as an attack on Russia.

In a statement on Friday, the Russian Foreign Ministry, citing data from the Defence Ministry that Ukraine has amassed considerable numbers of military personnel, as well as hardware and artillery on its border with Transnistria, warned the "US, NATO member states and their Ukrainian underlings against any further adventurous steps", RT reported.

While Russia favours "political-diplomatic" ways of resolving issues, "no one should have any doubt that the Russian armed forces will react appropriately to any provocation by the Kiev regime," the statement read.

It stressed that it is determined to protect its citizens, peacekeepers, and military personnel stationed in Moldova's breakaway region, and any actions posing a threat to their security will be viewed, according to international law, as an attack against the Russian Federation.

The report of a Ukrainian military buildup along the country's border with Transnistria was issued by the Russian Defence Ministry on Thursday.

The territory on the left bank of the Dniester River proclaimed independence from Moldova in the early 1990s, shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Around 1,100 Russian soldiers are stationed in Transnistria as peacekeepers in order to monitor a 1992 ceasefire between Moldovan and local forces.

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