MOSCOW. Jan 6 (Interfax-AVN) - Tbilisi would like to reach a compromise with Moscow regarding the pullout of Russian military bases from Georgia, said its ambassador to Russia Zurab Abashidze.
"We would like to reach a mutual understanding on this issue with Russia in the near future and come to an agreement on the basic problems that have remained unsettled since 1999," Abashidze said in a Tuesday interview with Interfax.
Russia committed itself to withdraw its military bases from Georgia at an OSCE summit in Istanbul in November 1999. Two of these bases, the 137th in Vaziani and the 50th in Gudauta, have already been withdrawn, while an agreement on the dates for pulling out the 62nd and 12th bases from Akhalkalaki and Batumi has not yet been achieved.
Abashidze said he believes Russia and Georgia have to determine the deadline for withdrawing the Akhalkalaki and Batumi bases.
"This process, in our opinion, has been unjustifiably dragged out, and we are now displaying a desire to find a compromise solution," he said.
"I think, granted the political will, such a compromise can be found," he said.
The full version of Abashidze's interview will be available later on Tuesday at www.interfax.ru.