Russian foreign minister shrugs off dispute over bases in Georgia
By STEVE GUTTERMAN; Associated Press Writer

Associated Press Worldstream
March 11, 2005 Friday 3:46 PM Eastern Time

MOSCOW — Russia’s foreign minister shrugged off a push by Georgia’s
parliament for a deadline for a Russian military withdrawal, saying
Friday that the dispute must be resolved through negotiations and
pledging to step up the talks.

Georgia’s President Mikhail Saakashvili, too, voiced hope for a
compromise that would help warm up often-tense relations between his
Caucasus nation and its giant northern neighbor.

Georgian lawmakers voted Thursday to call on their government to demand
that Russia close the bases by the beginning of next year if the two
ex-Soviet republics fail to agree on a timetable for the withdrawal
by May 15.

The unanimous resolution raised the stakes in the dispute over the
bases – hangovers from the Soviet era that helped sour relations
between Russia and Georgia, whose new Western-oriented leadership is
trying to shed Moscow’s influence.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Friday that during a visit to
Georgia last month, “We agreed to use the next two months to try to
activate the negotiation process” on unresolved disputes including
the bases.

“This agreement stands,” Lavrov said. He said talks would be held
“in the near future.”

Lavrov stressed that Russia’s contact on the issue was not with
Georgia’s parliament but its executive branch.

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili’s administration had pressured
lawmakers Wednesday to withdraw the resolution.

Saakashvili said late Friday that despite the parliament’s “sharp”
move, talks continued.

“I don’t lose hope that we can reach a civilized agreement that
wouldn’t infringe on Russia’s interests while respecting independence
and sovereignty of Georgia,” he told reporters in the Georgian capital,
Tbilisi. “There is a hope that solving this issue could become a
victory for Georgian and Russian diplomacy and take our relations to
a new level.”

Lavrov declined to comment on Russia’s position on a timetable for
the withdrawal, but a senior Russian Defense Ministry official said
Thursday that the bases could be closed within three to four years,
rather than 11 or more as stated previously. The head of the foreign
affairs committee in Georgia’s parliament suggested it should be no
longer than two years.

The Georgian parliament’s nonbinding resolution said that if Moscow
does not comply with withdrawal demands, the bases – at Batumi and
Akhalkalaki – should be forced out by refusing to issue visas to
Russian military personnel and limiting the movement of troops and
materiel in Georgia.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko assailed
Georgia on Friday over a delay in issuing visa to the new commander
of Russian forces in Georgia, saying that “solving this and other
issues exacerbating conditions for the Russian military in Georgia
would help creat favorable conditions for talks.”

Nationalist Russian lawmaker Konstantin Zatulin told the newspaper
Nezavisimaya Gazeta that if Georgia tries to force the pullout,
Moscow should raise its prices for gas and oil deliveries in
retaliation. Georgia relies heavily on Russia for energy supplies.

The Russian daily Kommersant said Moscow fears its military presence
in Armenia – its closest ally in the strategic Caucasus region –
could be at risk if it pulls out of Georgia.

Russia does not border Armenia, and uses Georgian territory to move
troops and equipment to its military base there.