Russia Confirms 2008 Military Bases Pullout From Georgia

MosNews, Russia
May 30 2005

MosNews — Russia has announced a breakthrough deal with neighboring
Georgia, promising to pull out the last of its troops from the Caucasus
state during 2008, Interfax news agency reported.

“The final withdrawal will be completed in 2008,” Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted as saying after Moscow talks with
Georgian counterpart Salome Zurabishvili on the most painful issue
in relations between two ex-Soviet states.

The deal follows months of talks between Moscow and Tbilisi, whose new
pro-Western government compares the presence of Russian troops at the
two bases near the border with NATO member Turkey to an “occupation”.

Lavrov said that after Monday’s talks he and Zurabishvili signed a
joint communique, which included the main stages of the withdrawal –
something the Georgian side wanted to see before striking a final deal.

“We have reached the goal which we were aiming for,” Zurabishvili
said. “We would want to see this as a staged process which would
ultimately lead to the full closure of the Russian bases in Georgia.”

As local media reported earlier, bases can be transferred from Georgia
to Armenia that caused a negative reaction from Azerbaijan, which is
still in a state of undeclared war with the neighboring country over
Nagornyy Karabakh.

Up to 5,000 Russian troops together with 115 tanks, 220 infantry
fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers, and 170 artillery
systems stay in Georgia at the moment.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress