MOSCOW - Russia reported "real progress" Monday in talks on pulling its troops out of military bases in neighboring Georgia, saying the two sides had reached a preliminary accord on a timetable for a phased withdrawal that could begin this year.
"We made real progress and brought our positions closer on the timetable for the presence and, correspondingly, the withdrawal of Russian military bases from Georgia," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said following talks here with his Georgian counterpart, Salome Zurabishvili.
"We agree that the pullout will be done in stages and will begin, assuming we sign an agreement, already this year," Lavrov, flanked by Zurabishvili, was shown saying on state television.
His comments marked a significant change in tone and substance from Russia on the contentious base question, a major source of anymosity that has been growing between Tbilisi and Moscow for more than a year.
Lavrov said the agreement, which was to be submitted for final approval to top leaders in Russia and Georgia, concerned military equipment and "objects that are not part of the infrastructure of the military bases."
He also said the two sides had worked out an arrangement for "possible joint use" of the facilities that Russia inherited following the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union, when Moscow took responsibility for four military bases on Georgian territory.
At an Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE) summit in 1999, Russia signed a pledge to leave two of the bases immediately and to negotiate the terms for its departure from the remaining two, located near the southwest Georgian port of Batumi and the southern city of Akhalkalaki.
Russia kept the first part of that promise but has shown little inclination in recent years to follow through on the second part, triggering anger in Georgia and increasing international criticism.
Prior to Monday's breakthrough, Russian civilian and military officials had insisted that the country would need at least three years to clear out of the two remaining bases -- despite a motion approved by the Georgian parliament earlier this year giving Russia until next January 1 to leave.
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, who had predicted that an earlier round of negotiations on the bases would prove decisive -- the two sides said they had failed to make meaningful progress at that session -- was to study the outcome of Monday's talks.
Georgian officials said he would decide whether or not to accept an invitation to attend ceremonial events in Moscow on May 9 marking the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II based on his assessment of the apparent agreement on the bases.
Around 3,000 Russian soldiers are deployed at the two bases.
04/25/2005 14:29 GMT