Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Russian troops begin pullout from Georgia

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Russian troops begin pullout from Georgia

    Agence France Presse -- English
    July 30, 2005 Saturday 9:15 AM GMT

    Russian troops begin pullout from Georgia

    TBILISI

    Russia began withdrawing its troops Saturday from Georgia two months
    after the two countries reached agreement on the closure of two
    Russian military bases on Georgian territory leftover from when both
    states were part of the Soviet Union, officials said.

    An initial column of nine military vehicles pulled out of the Russian
    base at Batumi in southwest Georgia on the Black Sea coast and was
    headed out of the country as Georgian and Russian military officials
    witnessed the start of the withdrawal, they said.

    Russia's military presence in Georgia dates back to the second half
    of the 18th century when Georgian leaders requested Russian
    protection from Turkish and Persian invaders and the country was
    subsumed into the expanding Russian empire.

    But that presence became increasingly controversial following the
    1991 breakup of the Soviet Union and after years of bitter argument
    the two sides finalized an agreement on May 30 this year on the
    closure of the last two Russian bases in Georgia by the end of 2008.

    One base is at Batumi and the other at Akhalkalaki near Georgia's
    border with Armenia.

    The pullout had been scheduled to begin on Friday but was delayed by
    one day due to Russian complaints that Georgian authorities had not
    provided visas for soldiers and other documentation required to take
    the military hardware across the border and out of the country.

    A Russian military official said that problem had been resolved,
    allowing the pullout to begin.

    "The Georgian side promised to provide us with all the necessary
    documents for the withdrawal of our armored vehicles," Vladimir
    Kuparadze, the deputy commander of Russian forces in Georgia, said.

    A spokesman for the Georgian Justice Ministry said the documents
    needed by the Russian forces had been delivered within one day after
    they were requested instead of the usual month it takes to process
    them.

    And Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zurabishvili stressed that
    timely withdrawal of the Russian forces was in Georgia's interest and
    vowed that all necessary documentation would be provided as quickly
    as possible.

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Working...
X