MOSCOW. April 11 (Interfax-AVN) - The U.S.-Georgian defense cooperation agreement puts Russia into an unequal position, Andrei Kokoshin, chairman of the committee on CIS affairs and relations with compatriots in the State Duma lower house of Russian parliament, told Interfax-Military News Agency on Friday.
"The agreement grants U.S. servicemen in Georgia the rights that Russian servicemen do not have there, which puts Russia into an unequal position," Kokoshin said commenting on the Duma's bill on the U.S.-Georgian defense cooperation agreement.
He noted that several Russian experts "have grounds to think that the absence of such rights for Russia will complicate joint actions in the framework of anti-terrorist operations in the region."
According to Kokoshin, lawmakers "are seriously concerned with the fact that U.S. servicemen with such a status can be used at some moment solve by force the problems that Georgia has in Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Adzharia."
"It is important that both the U.S. and Georgia at least make political statements that such actions will not take place," Kokoshin stressed.
"The South Caucasus is an extremely important area from the point of view of Russia's security, and any escalation of tensions in the region cannot but cause serious concerns among us," Kokoshin added.