Russia won’t move materiel to Abkhazia – diplomat
By Alexandra Urusova

ITAR-TASS News Agency
June 3, 2005 Friday

MOSCOW, June 3 — Abkhazia was not considered as a possible location
for the Russian military bases to be withdrawn from Georgia, the
Russian Foreign Ministry’s Ambassador Igor Savolsky said in Moscow
on Friday.

“We did not discuss Abkhazia,” he said in answer to a question about
the possible transfer of Russian military hardware from Batumi and
Akhalkalaki to Gudauta (Abkhazia) or Gyumri (Armenia).

“We discussed Armenia, because the Akhalkalaki base is only 100
kilometers away from our base in Gyumri,” he said. “The military
hardware can be transferred from one Russian base to another, and
any fears that this transfer may strengthen the Armenian army are
unfounded,” he said.

He said they are not considering the transfer of Russian military
hardware to the Armenian side. “The hardware will be stationed
exclusively on premises of the Russian military base,” he said.