Duma ratifies agreements on Russian military presence in Georgia

RIA Novosti
October 06, 2006

MOSCOW, October 6 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s lower house of parliament
ratified Friday agreements on the transit of Russian military cargo
and personnel through Georgia, and on the terms, order of operation
and withdrawal from Russian military bases in Georgia.

The agreements were ratified in line with documents signed by Russia
and Georgia in March 2006 in Sochi.

After four Russian officers were detained in Tbilisi and charged
with espionage last week, Russia suspended travel, postal links
with Georgia, and threatened to freeze banking transactions with the
southern neighbor.

The sanctions remain in force despite Georgia’s release of the Russian
officers Monday.

The first ratified agreement defines transit procedures through
Georgian territory of military cargo and personnel in support of the
102nd Russian military base in Armenia.

The Russian 102nd military base in Gyumri, about 120 kilometers
(75 miles) from the Armenian capital Yerevan, is part of a joint air
defense system of the Commonwealth of Independent States, which was
deployed in Armenia in 1995.

The base operates under the authority of the Russian group of forces
in the South Caucasus, and is equipped with S-300 (SA-10 Grumble)
air defense systems, MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters and 5,000 personnel.

Under the agreement, the Russian military transit through Georgia may
be conducted by road, air or rail transport. Russia cannot deliver
through Georgian territory, including its air space, nuclear, chemical
or biological weapons, as well as other weapons of mass destruction,
including its components.

The term of the agreement is five years, but it may be extended if
there are no objections from either side.

The ratified agreement on the terms, order of operation and
withdrawal of the Russian military bases in Georgia states that two
Soviet-era bases in the western city of Batumi and the southern city
of Akhalkalaki will remain operational during the gradual process of
removing troops and hardware.

Under the 2006 agreement, Russia must withdraw from the southern city
of Akhalkalaki by October 1, 2007, but the deadline can be extended
until December in the event of complications.

The withdrawal from Batumi in the west of Georgia must be completed
by late 2008. Russian military officials said they have been kept on
schedule in 2006.

Since Mikheil Saakashvili came to power in Georgia on the back of
the 2003 "Rose Revolution," both the government and parliament have
sought to remove Russian peacekeepers from the conflict zones with
two self-proclaimed republics, and to force the withdrawal of Russian
troops from the two Soviet-era bases.