TBILISI. Jan 28 (Interfax-AVN) - Georgian officials have confirmed that they will raise the issue of Russian military bases withdrawal over three years at the upcoming military talks.
"Tbilisi suggests an absolutely feasible term for Russian military bases' relocation to Russia," Major General Givi Iukuridze, chief of the Main Military Inspection, told reporters on Wednesday.
Under the accords achieved at the OSCE summit in Istanbul in 1999, Russia withdrew its 137th military base from Vaziani, a suburb of Tbilisi, and the 50th military base from Gudauta, the breakaway region of Abkhazia, in 2001. Talks on the future of the 12th base in Batumi, the autonomous republic of Ajaria, and the 62nd base in Akhalkalaki, the Samtskhe-Javakheti region, are underway. Russia insists on an 11-year term for the two bases' withdrawal, while Georgian argues insist that it can be done in three years.
"According to the Georgian party, three years are quite enough for both solving technical problems and building military compounds in new stationing areas," Iukuridze said.
He noted that Georgia does not know precisely how much money will be required for withdrawing the bases.
"Our American partners are planning to study the financial aspect of the problem, after which U.S. leaders will decide whether they will provide required aid to Georgia on this issue or abstain," Iukuridze said.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov told reporters on Wednesday that talks with Georgia on the bases' stationing terms and withdrawal conditions will resume as soon as a new Georgian government is formed.