December 23, 2002 - 18:30 AMT
TBILISI READY TO DISCUSS WITHDRAWAL OF RUSSIAN MILITARY BASES FROM ITS TERRITORY WITHIN 6-7 YEARS
If the offers to withdraw Russian military bases from the Georgian territory within 6-7 years are expressed not only by individual Russian politicians, but are also suggested by official Moscow at the negotiations, Tbilisi is ready to study them in detail. As reported by Georgian media, Georgian foreign minister Irakly Menagarishvili stated it, thus, displaying official Tbilisi response to Russian parliament deputy, former director of the Federal frontier service of Russia Andrey Nikolayev's statement that it was possible to relocate the Russian bases within 6-7 years instead of the 3 demanded by Georgia. Let us remind that one of the Russian military bases is located in Georgian Akhalkalaki region populated by Armenians.