BUCHAREST, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- Visiting NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said Thursday that NATO respected Moldova's neutrality and was willing to continue cooperation with the country, according to news reports reaching here.

    In his meeting with Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin in Moldovan capital Chisinau, Scheffer urged Russia to comply with its pledge to withdraw its troops and weapons from Moldova.

    Russia pledged at the Organization for Security and Cooperationin Europe (OSCE) summit in Istanbul in 1999 to withdraw from the separatist region of Trans-Dniester in eastern Moldova.

    Scheffer said he believes the issue of Trans-Dniester would be solved within the framework of the conflicting parties, the OSCE, Russia, Ukraine as well as the European Union (EU) and the United States.

    Voronin said that it is necessary for Moldova to reinforce cooperation with NATO in face of new challenges threatening world security.

    Moldova will abide by the principles of neutrality and what is laid out in the Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) with NATO to further promote political dialogue and cooperation, the president said.

    Moldova, a republic of the former Soviet Union, declared independence in 1989.

    In September 1990, the parliament of Trans-Dniester unilaterally declared independence from Moldova. Neither Moldova'sgovernment nor any U.N. members have recognized the independence of Trans-Dniester.