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Georgian foreign minister pleased with talks with Russian counterpar

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  • Georgian foreign minister pleased with talks with Russian counterpar

    Georgian foreign minister pleased with talks with Russian counterpart

    RIA Novosti
    May 31, 2005

    MOSCOW, May 31 (RIA Novosti) - Salome Zurabishvili and Sergei Lavrov,
    the foreign ministers of Georgia and Russia, met yesterday and agreed
    to complete the closure of Russia's military bases in Georgia in 2008.

    "I am very pleased with the meeting," Zurabishvili said in an interview
    with today's issue of Noviye Izvestia, a popular daily. "The day when
    it took place can truly be called historic." The Georgian minister said
    it marked the start of new relations and a new stage in cooperation
    between the two countries.

    Both countries had to make concessions. Georgia had proposed 2007 as
    the deadline for the bases' withdrawal, whereas Russia had insisted
    on 2009. "We agreed on 2008, which is a reasonable compromise,"
    Zurabishvili said.

    The term "phased withdrawal" means a coordinated action plan. All
    Russia's military facilities, except the bases themselves, will be
    handed over to Georgia in 2005. In 2006, Russia is expected to pull
    out heavy materiel from the base in Akhalkalaki, on the border with
    Armenia, while the base itself will be closed the following year. In
    2008, Russia will withdraw heavy equipment from the Batumi base,
    on the Black Sea, and close it.

    Zurabishvili said Russia was free to decide whether Russian troops
    should be redeployed in Armenia or Abkhazia, a self-proclaimed republic
    on Georgian territory.

    Zurabishvili said the Russian forces on Georgian soil were not the
    only problem that had strained relations between Russia and Georgia:
    "We are facing a whole range of problems, while the smoldering
    conflicts are the most acute of them." "Still, the emotional burden
    of deciding what is 'mine' and what is not is the most difficult
    question," she said. "It makes other problems worse and complicates
    their solution." Zurabishvili said that eliminating this negative
    emotional background would help ensure favorable conditions for
    building new, truly friendly relations between Georgia and Russia.
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