Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a news briefing in Istanbul that the issues surrounding the pulling out of Russia’s two military bases from Georgia will be solved through the “presence of good will.”
“These agreements have no definite time frames. They simply imply reaching an agreement by holding talks in regards to the duration and conditions of [Russian] military bases’ presence in Georgia,” he added, referring to the 1999 OSCE Istanbul commitments.
These commitments specifically state that “during the year 2000 the two Sides [Georgia, Russia] will complete negotiations regarding the duration and modalities regarding the functioning of the Russian military bases in Batumi and Akhalkalaki and the Russian military facilities within the territory of Georgia.”
However, no agreement has been reached so far over how long these Russian military bases will remain in Georgia.
“The talks were resumed after Russian President Putin and Georgian President Saakashvili agreed to restore this process, which was at a standstill due to the position taken by Georgia’s previous authorities,” Sergei Lavrov said.
A ninth round of talks between Georgia Russia over the military bases took place in Moscow on June 23.