THIRD MILITARY CONVOY LEAVES RUSSIAN BASE IN GEORGIA
RIA Novosti, Russia
April 25 2007
TBILISI, April 25 (RIA Novosti) – The third military convoy left a
Russian military base in Georgia Wednesday as part of a deal on the
withdrawal of Russian military bases from the South Caucasus country,
signed in 2006.
The military convoy, consisting of 10 trucks carrying 35 tons of cargo,
left the Akhalkalaki base in the south of the country heading for
Gyumri in neighboring Armenia, where Russia retains Military Base 102.
The next convoy is scheduled for May 4.
The Akhalkalaki base located in a region populated largely by ethnic
Armenians is to be completely evacuated before the end of the year,
while the base in the Black Sea port of Batumi is to close by the
end of 2008.
Russia completed the withdrawal of its military garrison from the
Georgian capital, Tbilisi, handing over control of its headquarters
to Georgia’s Defense Ministry, last December.
Thirteen of the garrison’s 387 personnel will remain in Georgia
overseeing the withdrawal of Russia’s two Soviet-era bases.
Georgia’s Western-leaning leadership, which is seeking to join NATO, is
uneasy about Russia’s continued military presence, and has repeatedly
urged Moscow to close its Soviet-era bases.
All in all, Russia has agreed to dispatch five truck convoys and ten
trains to withdraw the remaining equipment from the Akhalkalaki base
by the yearend.