Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (right) and Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zurabishvili during their meeting at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs villa
Photo: Vasily Shaposhnikov
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Two-Way (Out) Relations
// Russia and Georgia specify the timetable for closing Russian military bases
Friendship of Nations
Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zurabishvili arrived in Moscow on Monday. The main topic of her negotiations with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was the pullout of Russian troops from Batumi and Akhalkalaki. Moscow was trying to reach an agreement before the May 9 meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili and even made significant concessions in order to reach that goal.
Kommersant has learned from sources in Tbilisi that Russian and Georgian diplomacy is working toward a document that could be signed in the immediate future by the presidents of those countries, a “joint statement on current issues in bilateral relations.” It looks as though the Foreign Ministry was ordered to reach an agreement in time for the celebrations on May 9, when Saakashvili will visit Moscow. The Russian leadership intends the signing of the document and reconciliation between Russia and Georgia on Victory Day as an added bonus for the day.
But the signing of the agreement is still not possible without solving the problem of the Russian military bases in Georgia. Therefore, the diplomats made every effort in Monday's negotiations to reach an agreement on them. Only concessions from Russia could ease the tension and guarantee that Saakashvili would final give his final assent to come to Moscow (he still has not given a firm answer). They did not forget in Moscow, however, that the agreement has to be signed by May 15 in any case at all. That is the day when the Georgian parliament's ultimatum that practically outlawed the bases runs out.
After the negotiations Monday, Lavrov noted with satisfaction that “the positions of Moscow and Tbilisi on the timetable for the closure of the Russian military bases have come closer.” He added that “a gradual withdrawal may begin this year.” Kommersant has obtained information that Lavrov made it clear in the negotiations that Moscow is ready to give up its previous demands and is ready to agree to move its base in Akhalkalaki to Armenia by the end of 2007 and close the base in Batumi by the end of 2008. During a joint press conference, the ministers avoided specific dates, but Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli made his views in an interview with the Interfax news agency also on Monday. He stated decisively that all Russian bases should be closed by the end of 2007, and added that Tbilisi “does not intend to compensate” Moscow for it.
Zurabishvili was cautious in her estimations Monday and stated that “it is necessary to agree not only on the timetable of the closure of the Russian military bases in Batumi and Akhalkalaki, but also on specific issues connected with those closures… The devil is hiding in the details.” The details that Moscow and Tbilisi still have to agree on are many. Russia is placing big hopes on the Russian-Georgian Antiterrorism Center that, in its plans, is to arise in place of the bases and replace the bases in many ways. Tbilisi is not openly against that idea, but does not see any particular sense in it either. Georgian law enforcement bodies are completely satisfied with their current cooperation with NATO and the United States Train and Equip Program for the Georgian special forces. Therefore, Tbilisi's enthusiasm for Russian-Georgian antiterrorism efforts is considerably weaker than Moscow's. Another source of contention may be Russia's proposal to sign a supplemental agreement on Russian military transit through Georgia, which Russia need in order to have a military base in Armenia.
The latest Russian-Georgian mini-scandal also complicated the talks the foreign ministers. Zurabishvili did not hide her annoyance at Russian ambassador to Moldova Nikolay Ryabov, who said that Mikhail Saakashvili “imagines that he is the messiah of the West in the former Soviet Union.” Finally, another stumbling block was the latest military exercises in Abkhazia, conducted with the participation of Russia. Moscow is probably already thinking of those things as the details.
Mikhail Zygar
All the Article in Russian as of Apr. 26, 2005
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