MOSCOW - Moscow's new proposals on the thorny issue of Russian military bases on Georgia's territory "fully take into account" Tbilisi's requirements, the Russian foreign ministry's special envoy said early Wednesday ahead of talks in Moscow.
"Our new proposals, based on the results of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's February talks in Tbilisi, will be presented today, and in our view, they fully take into account Georgian ideas on the subject," the Russian delegation's chief Igor Savolsky told the Interfax news agency.
"These bases will be withdrawn from the Georgian territory, in accordance with Georgia's position, by the deadline we will work out," Savolsky said, refusing to elaborate further as "making (the proposals) public while talks last is inexpedient."
Last week Georgian officials hailed the issue as "practically resolved," allowing that the three-year time limit that Moscow has requested to withdraw its two bases, which Georgia inherited from Soviet times, was "reasonable."
Russia had two bases remaining on Georgian territory, in the Akhalkalaki region in the south and Batumi in the west, for years.
Earlier this month, the Georgian parliament passed a resolution that gave Russia until January 1 to close the facilities, but Russia is insisting it will need at least three years to withdraw its equipment and troops.
In a joint statement signed by Russia and Georgia during a 1999 summit of member countries of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Istanbul, Moscow agreed to close two of four military bases in Georgia and to present a timetable for closure of the remaining two.
03/23/2005 06:27 GMT