Georgia, Russia to reach agreement on military bases: parliament speaker
Xinhua, China
May 20 2005
2005-05-20 23:30:28
TBILISI, May 20 (Xinhuanet) — Georgia and Russia are expected to reach
an agreement on the deadline of Russian military bases’ withdrawal
from the country next week, Parliament Speaker Nino Burdzhanadze
said Friday.
The two former Soviet states will hold talks on the issue next Monday,
Burdzhanadze said at a parliament meeting. He also said Russia’s latest
proposal “is more constructive” than ever before, so they will have
a chance to strike a deal at the negotiation table.
Burdzhanadze’s remarks came one day after Yury Baluyevsky, chief of
general staff of the Russian army, said the bases will becertainly
withdrawn to Russian territory, yet some of the military equipment
and property will be moved to neighboring Armenia.
The move “will help us to reduce the withdrawal period to four years,”
Baluyevsky said.
Russia still has two military bases in Georgia after closing another
two under an agreement reached in 1999. Moscow has insisted it needs
four years to complete the withdrawal while Tbilisi says it must be
finished before January 2008.
Since the two sides had failed to reach any agreements before May
15, Georgia declared the Russian bases “in the state of demolition”
as of May 16, which triggered a tough reaction from Moscow.
Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, appealed to
President Vladimir Putin to recall its ambassador from Tbilisi,
stop issuing entry visas to Georgians, and raise prices of energy
resources provided for Georgia.
On Wednesday, the Russia Foreign Ministry said the two sides are
prepared for fresh talks next week that will focus on a plan envisaging
the completion of the bases’ withdrawal in 2008. Enditem