09 June 2004 12:51
Georgia waiting for response from Russia on military bases
Tbilisi, 9 June: Georgia is waiting for reciprocal steps from Russia that would lead to at least some progress on the
issue of the withdrawal of the Russian military bases from the country. Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zourabichvili
said at a news briefing today that Georgia was ready to offer a new format of talks and was waiting for reciprocal
proposals from Russia.
The talks on the military bases have not been held in a bilateral format for a long time. Tbilisi had sent its first
invitation to hold another round of talks on 10 May. However, Salome Zourabichvili noted that at that time the newly
appointed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that he had not yet appointed a person responsible for the talks.
The Georgian side sent another invitation to hold talks on 11 June, but again there has been no response. "I hope
that Russia is thinking about this issue and will agree to hold the talks," Zourabichvili said.
She also noted that Georgia strongly maintained that the bases should be pulled out of the country. "These bases
no longer have any strategic, military or political significance, and this was proved by the events in [the Ajarian
capital] Batumi as well," Zourabichvili said. However, she emphasized that the issue of the withdrawal should not
be a topic of permanent speculation in Georgian-Russian relations.
"We have offered new positions to the Russian side. There are talks that the Russian side is also ready for
compromises, but Russia's official or formal position is not yet known," the minister said. [Passage
omitted]
[Kavkasia-Press news agency] |
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