In a September 17 plebiscite, more than 97% of Transdnestr's population voted in favor of independence, and to subsequently join the Russian Federation.
"We ask the deputies of Russia's State Duma, Ukraine's Supreme Rada, Belarus' National Assembly and the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly to initiate the acknowledgement of the Transdnestr Moldovan Republic as a sovereign independent state," the address of the republic's parliament said.
"In conditions of political uncertainty and continuing economic pressure, Transdnestr used the institution of direct democracy, which is what a referendum is, to express ways Transdnestr can develop," the document said.
Transdnestr proclaimed its independence from Moldova in the early 1990s, following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Armed clashes between Moldova and Transdnestr ensued, and Russia has retained a military presence in the breakaway region ever since.
Ukraine and Russia are mediating negotiations on the status of the predominantly Russian-speaking region.
The talks stalled last March after Ukraine, which supports Moldova in the dispute, toughened its customs regulations for the breakaway province, demanding that Transdnestr exports pass customs clearance in Moldova before they are allowed across the Ukrainian border.
Officials in Ukraine and Moldova presented the new rule as an anti-smuggling measure. But Transdnestr's leadership said it effectively amounted to a trade blockade, and responded by calling a referendum on the self-proclaimed republic's independence - a move Chisinau and Western mediators refused to recognize as legitimate.
Moldovan authorities said they were willing to extend autonomy for the separatist region, which still has no international recognition, but brushed away the idea of granting it independence.
The West has consistently refused to recognize Transdnestr's independence. In response, Russia claims that recognizing the sovereignty of Kosovo - actively sought by the predominant Albanian population in the historically Serbian region - would serve as a precedent for legalizing the status of other separatist regions in former Soviet republics.
