Russia and Moldova have called for continued efforts to resolve the conflict over the breakaway Moldovan region of Trans-Dniestr.

A statement issued after talks in Moscow between the Russian prime minister, Yevgeny Primakov, and his Moldovan counterpart, Ion Ciubuc, said a political settlement should define the status of the Trans-Dniestr region while preserving the territorial integrity of Moldova.

Pro-Russian Slav hardliners in the region led the breakaway in 1991 which was consolidated after a short war with Moldovan forces.

The Russian and Moldovan prime ministers also agreed that troops of the former Soviet Fourteenth army, which have been stationed in Trans-Dniestr as peacekeepers, should continue to be withdrawn -- but only as the necessary conditions for this are created.