Georgia ready to pay for Russian bases closure: FM
Georgia stands ready to consider taking expenses on the withdrawal of Russian military bases from its territory, Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zurabishvili said here on Tuesday.
In statements released by the Itar-Tass news agency, Zurabishvili said Georgia would assume the expenses if they were "in reasonable limits", but the financial assistance to the pullout of the Russian bases had not been discussed at her recent meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow.
At present, any cost of transportation related to the withdrawal of the bases has not been mentioned by the Russian side in the talks, said Zurabishvili, who arrived here on Sunday.
The main thing is that neither Russia nor Georgia "makes any impracticable conditions that could be a cause of failure of the talks," Zurabishvili noted.
On Monday, the Georgian foreign minister stated that no new foreign bases would be deployed in the Georgian territory after Russia pulls out its bases. "Georgia doesn't want foreign military bases in its territory," "It (the presence of any foreign bases) doesn't meet Georgia's national interests," Zurabishvili stressed.
Meanwhile, she noted "Georgia is interested in developing economic ties and in the transit of fuel and energy resources. Russia will always remain our main supplier of gas and energy resources."
The bases issue has been one of the main disputes between Moscow and Tbilisi for many years. Georgia has demanded the pullout of Russia's bases as earlier as possible, but Russia has insisted it would take at least three years.
The Monday statement of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that Russia may start the pullout of its Soviet-era military bases in Georgia this year was welcomed by the Georgian side.
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