Moldova's prime minister told AFP on Wednesday the international community is ready to offer gas to end the energy crisis in Transnistria but a lasting solution hinges on Russia withdrawing its troops from the separatist region.

The leader of Moldova's breakaway region of Transdniestria has travelled to Moscow since the suspension of Russian gas deliveries via Ukraine, the president of Moldova said on Tuesday.Transdniestria has suffered widespread power cuts since Jan.

Moldova and its separatist Transdniestria region inched towards a deal on Monday to allow gas to flow to residents of the rebel enclave, who have been suffering from power and heating cuts since the start of the year.

The issue lies in the fact that gas shipments to Transnistria through intermediaries breach Moldovan law. Read also: Kremlin’s gas gamble: Transnistria left in crisis "Gazprom, as the majority shareholder of Moldovagaz,

Since Russia stopped delivering gas to Moldova, Valera Alexandru Sava only heats the ground floor of his two-storey house and often wears a coat and hat inside.

An energy crisis that has left hundreds of thousands of people without heating and hot water in the breakaway region of Transnistria could soon end, officials in Moldova said Monday The Moldovan officials reported that the Moscow-friendly leaders of Transnistria had indicated they would accept shipments of gas from the European market to replace lost Russian supplies.

Once proud, go-it-alone and richer than their neighbors in Moldova proper, Transnistrians are now burning wood to keep warm through hours-long blackouts as winter bites. The crunch began when Moscow stopped pumping natural gas through pipelines in Ukraine ...

The leader of breakaway Transnistria said Monday his government was ready to buy gas from Moldova, more than two weeks after a halt in Russian supplies plunged his region

The Kremlin said on Thursday that Russia was ready to provide gas to Moldova's breakaway Transdniestria region, but needed logistical support from Moldova to make that happen.

It is also worth noting that the alignment of Moldova's and Transdniester's fiscal and customs policies has meant that 70 percent of the breakaway region's foreign trade is with countries of the EU -- and that could only increase if Moldova moves closer to the bloc.

Moscow’s gas cutoff fuels Moldova’s shift toward the EU, as the country seeks energy security and support. Meanwhile, pro-Russian Transnistria

Russia has long used its plentiful energy resources as a tool to exert control over the region, where independence from Russian energy is tied to political sovereignty.