Oddly Trapped on a Recurring Theme: The Fate of Moldova and TransDniester

This post will be incredibly short.  Trans-Dniester, in eastern Moldova, bordered on the east by the southern and western Ukrainian oblasts of Odessa and Vinnytsya, is apparently being targeted by Russia for annexation, in the aftermath of Russia's annexation of Crimea.  I will reiterate that I do not know or understand all of the details concerning this region, but, in line with the viewpoints that I expressed with regard to Crimea, if the population in this region has an ethnically Russian majority, then, conceivably, it stands to benefit from integration with the Russian Federation, especially if it was already, for all intents and purposes, separate from Moldova.  On the other hand, if the integration of Trans-Dniester constitutes an excuse to violently violate the territorial integrity of Ukraine in order for the Russian military to reach a distant possession in force, then Ukraine quite emphatically has a right to defend its space, and the U.S., EU, and, consequently, NATO should unambiguously endorse its intentions to support Ukraine's effort, as a neutral country, to defend its territorial integrity  in a conflict that is explicitly between Russia and Moldova.  In this sense, I think I am with the Russophobes on this one regarding the potential for a Russian military offensive across territory in Ukraine inhabited by Ukrainian citizens with no previous affinity for Russia as an act of war that needs to be dealt with by the Ukrainian military, with the full and aggressive support of NATO, including, if necessary, direct military intervention to defend the territory of Ukraine.  It may be one thing for Russian forces to settle into the Don Basin where they are presumably wanted and welcomed by most of the local population.  It is something else entirely for the Russian military to roll over territory where they are emphatically unwelcome.  Enough should be enough!