TBILISI. April 21 (Interfax-AVN) - Georgia is ready to grant Russian servicemen the right to reside temporarily in the country after the withdrawal of military bases from Batumi and Akhalkalaki, Deputy Foreign Minister Kakha Sikharulidze told Interfax-Military News Agency on Monday.
He said that Georgia is trying to take a flexible position at negotiations on the bases' withdrawal but Georgia insists that three years are enough for their removal.
Sikharulidze noted that Georgia is ready to consider the extension of the bases' stationing term if armament and equipment are withdrawn from them within a year.
"The Georgian proposal is to withdraw the Batumi base first and then the Akhalkalaki base, extending the latter's stationing term," Sikharulidze stressed.
Russia proposes a different scheme, explaining it by the fact that the transport infrastructure of the Batumi base might be used for the withdrawal of the Akhalkalaki base.
"Georgia is even ready to provide some Russian military pensioners with permanent housing," Sikharulidze said.
Some 3,000 Russian servicemen and about 400 pieces of ordnance are staying in Georgia. The decision to withdrawn the Russian bases from Georgia was made at the Istanbul summit of the OSCE in 1999.
The Vaziani military base was handed over to the Georgian Defense Ministry in summer 2000. Moscow also announced the closure of the base in Gudauta but Georgia insists on subjecting it to international monitoring.
Russian-Georgian negotiations on the bases' closure have been in progress for a long time. Russia insists that the withdrawal requires 11 years and RUB11.7bn (USD376.06m).