BRUSSELS, May 8. /TASS/. The "withdrawal of Russian troops" from Transnistria will be one of the European Union’s demands for talks on resolving the conflict in Ukraine, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said at a press conference in Moldova.

"And there, what concerns Moldova, I think the withdrawal of Russian troops from Transnistria should also be one of the EU’s requests," she pointed out.

Kallas added that in late May, the foreign ministers of EU countries intended to consider "a list of things that we need to see from the Russian side," which could be put forth in potential talks on settling the Ukraine conflict.

Russian peacekeepers were deployed to the combat zone on July 29, 1992, in accordance with the Agreement on the Principles for a Peaceful Settlement of the Armed Conflict in the Dniester Region of the Republic of Moldova that the presidents of Russia and Moldova had signed in the presence of the leader of Transnistria. They maintain peace in the security area of separation along the Dniester River together with the blue helmets of Moldova and Transnistria, and a group of military observers from Ukraine.

The mission of the Operational Group of Russian Forces (OGRF) in Transnistria, which numbers approximately 1,000 soldiers and officers, is to support the peacekeeping operation and guard the warehouses that store over 20,000 tons of ammunition, transported there after the withdrawal of Soviet troops from European countries. The process of removing and disposing of the ammunition was blocked by Transnistria’s authorities in 2004 after their relations with Moldova deteriorated.

Moldova insists on the withdrawal of the OGRF and suggests that the peacekeepers should be replaced with a civilian mission under an international mandate. However, the Transnistrian leadership opposes the pullout of Russian troops as a civilian mission failed to prevent an armed conflict in 1992, which killed more than a thousand people, leaving tens of thousands wounded and displaced.