MOSCOW - Russia said Tuesday it could resume negotiations with Georgia on the fate of two military bases on Georgian territory later this month and proposed the two countries set up a new anti-terror center that would draw on base facilities.
"A timetable for continuing these talks is being agreed at present. We think they could take place in Moscow in the third week of March," Russian foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said in a statement.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergie Lavrov visited Tbilisi last month and agreed then with Georgian officials on the principle of resuming negotiations on the bases, which the Georgian parliament said must be closed by Russia by January 1 next year or else they would be declared illegal.
"Within this framework, it makes sense to carry out preliminary study on the issue of creating a Georgian-Russian antiterrorist center using portions of base infrastructures," Yakovenko said.
His comments came amid heightened tension between Russia and Georgia over the future of two Soviet-era military bases that are located in Georgian territory but which remain occupied by troops from Russia, which inherited the facilities in the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union.
Russia has already closed down two other military bases it had in Georgia and Tbilisi is demanding that it close the remaining two immediately.
Georgia's Minister for Conflict Resolution Georgy Khaindrava said Monday ahead of a visit to Moscow that the bases could be shut down in three to six months. A senior Russian defense official said earlier this month that Moscow would need three to four years to evacuate the bases.
03/15/2005 14:29 GMT