Following the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 23, 1939, the Soviet Union issued on June 26, 1940, an ultimatum to Romania that threatened the use of force.
[2] The Romanian government, responding to the Soviet ultimatum, agreed to withdraw from the territories to avoid a military conflict.
[2] The region (together with the rest of Bessarabia and Bukovina) was recaptured by Romania during 1941–1944 in the course of the Axis attack on the Soviet Union in World War II, until the Red Army captured it again in 1944.
Romania and Ukraine have signed and ratified a border agreement and are signatories of international treaties and alliances that denounce any territorial claims.
The correspondent of "New Region", Sergei Vulpe, with reference to the Bucharest newspaper Ziua reported on April 17, 2008[5] that the President of Romania, Traian Băsescu, stated that if Ukraine wants to annex Transnistria, then they should return Southern Bessarabia (Budjak) and northern Bukovina (Chernivtsi Oblast that includes the Hertsa region) to Moldova.