MOSCOW. Sept 10 (Interfax-AVN) - Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov will discuss the conditions of functioning of the 12th Russian military base in Batumi with Aslan Abashidze, leader of the Adzharian autonomous republic.
The meeting of both officials will happen in Moscow on Tuesday, a military diplomatic source told Interfax-Military News Agency.
He stressed that the "terms of functioning of the Russian military base in Batumi are not specified by Russian and Georgian officials. Tbilisi insists on closing all Russian military bases in the country within next three years. Moscow insists that 15 years will be needed for it," the source said.
According to him, "the Adzharian leadership that is practically out of the Georgian control insists on the Russian military presence in the self-proclaimed republic. Abashidze considers the Russian military base to be a stabilizing factor."
Russia closed two military bases in Georgia located in Gudauta, Abkhazia, and Vaziani, outskirts of Tbilisi, though the republic still has the 12th and 62nd military bases.