TBILISI. Dec 11 (Interfax-AVN) - Russian military bases located in Batumi and Akhalkalaki can stay there no longer than three years, Georgian Foreign Minister Irakly Menagarishvili told Interfax-Military News Agency on Wednesday.
"Russia tries to convince Georgia that it needs 11 years for it but that is not serious," Menagarishvili said. According to him, "Russian calculations do not stand any criticism."
Georgia's opinion that three years are enough for the bases' withdrawal is based on Georgian calculations, the minister said.
Russian and Georgian military experts are now examining each other's calculations during consultations in Tbilisi, he said.
Georgia also wants international inspections to check Russia's implementation of obligations concerning the disbandment of the military base in Gudauta which was announced by Russia last year, Menagarishvili noted.
He stressed that OSCE's decision to withdraw Russian military bases from Georgia made at a summit in Istanbul in 1999 is still valid.
"Moreover, the recent meeting of foreign ministers of OSCE member-states in Portugal called on both parties to speed up the implementation of Istanbul agreements, which was written into the final declaration.
There are two Russian bases in Georgia: the Batumi base in Adzharia and the Akhalkalaki base in the Samtzkhe-Dzhaveti region. The Gudauta base (located in Abkhazia) and the Vaziani base (located near Tbilisi) were closed in 1999 in accordance with decisions made at the Istanbul OSCE summit.