As Russia negotiated the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany, he ordered "Rumcherod" troops to march towards Romania, which was by then giving in to the German advances and preparing to sign its own peace. Initially stalled by a much-criticized temporary armistice with Romanian Army leader Alexandru Averescu, Rakovsky ordered a fresh offensive in Moldavia, but had to retreat when the Central Powers, confronted with Trotsky's refusal to accept their version of a Russo-German peace, began their own military operation and occupied Odessa (setting free Romanians who had been imprisoned there). On March 9, 1918, Rakovsky signed a treaty with Romania regarding the evacuation of troops from Bessarabia, which Stelian Tănase claims allowed for the Moldavian Democratic Republic to join Romania. In May, Romania conceded to the demands of the Central Powers ("see Treaty of Bucharest, 1918"). April–May 1918, he negotiated with the Tsentral'na Rada of the Ukrainian People's Republic, then with the Hetmanate of Pavlo Skoropadsky, as well as with German forces ("see Ukraine after the Russian Revolution"). Soon after, Rakovsky left for Austria (where the First Republic had been proclaimed), being received by Foreign Minister Victor Adler (a member of Karl Renner's Social Democratic Party of Austria cabinet). Rakovsky's real goal was to reach Germany and negotiate the situation in Ukraine, but he was expelled upon arrival to that country.