TBILISI. Jan 10 (Interfax-AVN) - Georgia will insist on holding negotiations with Russia on the return of a share of military hardware and armament taken out of the country in the early 1990s, Georgian Foreign Minister Irakly Menagarishvili told a news conference here on Friday.
The issue should be discussed by two parties, because "the armament left for Russia," Menagarishvili said.
He stressed that nobody has ever proposed alternative variants of compensation for damages caused by the withdrawal of armament and military hardware without any coordination with Tbilisi.
Menagarishvili stressed that Georgia's claims include a share of the Soviet Navy that was based in Georgian ports.
"There are various ways to solve the problem and we should hold negotiations to reach a compromise," he noted.
The Russian Defense Ministry earlier reported that 12 helicopters, over 350 armored vehicles, over 3,000 automobiles, 15 sets of ground defense equipment and air defense assets, over 400 field artillery systems, 49 mortars, over 47,000 pieces of small-arms and close-combat means, and over 230 cars of ammo were handed to Georgia in the early 1990s.