MOSCOW, April 7. /TASS/. A group of Russian troops staying in Moldova to guard depots of the disbanded 14th army will be withdrawn into Russia as soon as the issue of the armament pullout and disposal is resolved, Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador-at-Large Sergey Gubarev said on Thursday.

"These armaments can be withdrawn from Moldova into Russia only through the territory of Ukraine," said Gubarev who is also Russia’s envoy at the talks on the Transdniestrian settlement.

"But it is difficult to imagine who will assume responsibility for withdrawing several echelons with weapons across Ukraine when such events are taking place in that country," the Russian envoy said.

The military warehouses were set up during the Soviet period on the territory of Moldova as a republic within the USSR and have been under guard since then, the Russian diplomat said.

"Russia did not commit its troops to Moldova," the diplomat said.

Chisinau and Tiraspol far from agreeing on parameters of settlement

According to the diplomat, Moldova and Transdniestria are far from reaching an agreement on parameters of political settlement of the conflict.

"The key to resolving the issue of Transdniestria’s status is not in Moscow, Washington or Brussels, it’s in Chisinau and Tiraspol," Gubarev said. "The status will be decided in accordance with what the residents of both sides of the Dniester River agree on," he added.