Its been a long time coming, with several versions and revisions, but Russia and Moldova signed a final bilateral friendship and cooperation treaty. In the treaty, Russia officially recognizes Moldovan independence. Russia is also committed to helping peacefully resolve the Republic of Transdniester dispute. That heavily-Russian area in Moldova seceded from Moldova in 1990. The Russians believed Moldova would try to reunify with Romania. In 1992 fighting broke out between Moldova and Transdniester. Russian troops will be completely withdrawn from Transdniester in 2002. (Reportedly, about 2500 Russian soldiers are in Transdniester.) What does this mean? It looks like ethnic Russian demands for a federal Moldova arent going to be met (with Transdniester a mini-state inside a federal Moldova). One suspects the Russians may have this in mind as a precedent for settling the war in Chechnya. The agreement does give the Russian language a special status in Moldova (Moldovans speak Romanian).