MILITARY CONVOY LEAVES RUSSIA’S BATUMI BASE IN GEORGIA
RIA Novosti, Russia
May 15 2007
MOSCOW, May 15 (RIA Novosti) – A military convoy left a Russian
military base in Georgia by rail early Tuesday as part of a 2006 deal
on the withdrawal of Russian bases from the South Caucasus country.
The convoy, consisting of 35 carriages, is transporting 46 tracked
vehicles, five armored personnel carriers, and 200 tons of ammunition
from the Batumi base on the Black Sea to Russia via Azerbaijan,
the Georgian Defense Ministry’s press service said.
Earlier in the month, Russia withdrew a fourth military convoy from
the base to a Russian base in Armenia.
More military hardware will be removed from Batumi each week until
August 2007, the ministry said. According to the agreement between the
countries, Russia must complete the removal of its bases in Georgia
by the end of 2008.
Last December, Russia completed the withdrawal of its military
garrison from Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi, handing over control of
its headquarters to the Georgian Defense Ministry.
The next military convoy will leave Thursday by road from the
Akhalkalaki base, located in a region populated largely by ethnic
Armenians, and on May 24 two further convoys will leave Akhalkalaki
and Batumi.
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.