Poland says it is planning to host talks on resolving the conflict in Moldova's secessionist Trans-Dniestr region.

The Polish President, Aleksander Kwasniewski, told his Moldovan counterpart, Petru Lucinschi who is currently visiting Poland, that foreign ministers from Russia, Moldova, Ukraine and Poland would meet to discuss the issue before the end of the year.

Poland currently holds the rotating presidency of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

The mainly Russian-populated Trans-Dniestr region proclaimed its independence in 1991 from the ethnically Romanian Moldova in 1991.

After the ensuing fighting, Russian troops were stationed there as peacekeepers.