Tbilisi, Moscow Agree on Bases Pullout
Zourabichvili Prefers Cautious Optimism Until Formal Treaty is Finalized
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| Salome Zourabichvili and Sergey Lavrov at Moscow talks on April 25. Itar-Tass photo. |
Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zourabichvili spoke about details of this agreement and her talks with her counterpart Sergey Lavrov during a live interview with the Tbilisi-based Rustavi 2 television on April 25.
She said that the two sides made “concrete progress” during the talks and an agreement has been reached on three issues:
1. Deadline for the withdrawal of the bases;
2. Starting date for the withdrawal of the bases;
3. The intention to include a detailed schedule of the withdrawal process in a treaty.
She said that the Russian and Georgian experts would be given one week to work over the details of a formal agreement and after May 1 the two Ministers would “evaluate the agreements reached.”
“Progress has been made on three different issues. The first one is about the deadline [of military bases closure]. We have, practically, agreed that January 1, 2008 will be the deadline for the withdrawal of these bases,” Salome Zourabichvili said in an interview.
She said that the second issue is related with the launch of the withdrawal process. Zourabichvili said that the withdrawal should be launched immediately after the Presidents of Georgia and Russia, Mikheil Saakashvili and Vladimir Putin reach an agreement on a treaty. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced at a news conference after the talks on April 25 that Russia might start the withdrawal process of its bases from Georgia this year.
Salome Zourabichvili emphasized that the third part of the agreement is of crucial importance, as it envisages the development of a detailed scheduled – a timetable for the withdrawal process – in an attempt to avoid any “misunderstandings” during the pull out process.
“And the third part of this agreement is that this [withdrawal] should be a step-by-step process, so that we will know what will happen by the end of 2005, what will happen by 2006 and what will happen by the end of 2007. And this is very important, because [it will help us] to avoid misunderstandings at any stage [of the withdrawal process]… We should avoid even a slight misunderstanding, so we have also agreed to develop a detailed, technical part of this document to make all the aspects [of this withdrawal process] clear. We should know what will be those concrete steps which will be undertaken after the treaty is signed,” Salome Zourabichvili said.
The Georgian Foreign Minister also said that “hope has emerged” after the April 25 talks. But, despiter her optimism, it was clear that Zourabichvili showed a cautious nature as well. She said at a joint news conference on April 25 that she will not give President Saakashvili final recommendation unless she sees all the details of an agreement, quoting the proverb that “the devil is in the details.”
Zourabichvili’s cautiousness was also demonstrated in her comments made regarding the issue which is related to Georgian President Saakashvili’s visit to Moscow. “It is not yet decided whether the President will visit Moscow on May 8-9 or not. We talked about it today [during the negotiations with the Russian side] and the answer is that if important progress is made [over an agreement on the military bases], it will be possible for the President to visit Moscow. Nothing is decided yet, but nothing obstructs [this visit] as well,” she stated in her interview with Rustavi 2.
The Georgian Foreign Minister even explained the reason for her cautious approach at a joint news conference with her Russian counterpart. “It is a matter of trust. We know from the past, that Russia has ignored many agreements and treaties [with the Georgian side],” she stated.
The two Ministers also discussed the issue of setting up a joint Russo-Georgian anti-terrorist center in Georgia in exchange for the bases’ withdrawal. In her interview with Rustavi 2 Salome Zourabichvili said that no final agreement has been reached over this issue.
“So far we are only in the process of negotiations over the anti-terrorist center and in the document [regarding the military bases] there will only be a provision saying that the talks over an anti-terrorist center will continue and [the document will also reflect] that these anti-terrorist centers will begin functioning only after the bases’ are pulled out,” Salome Zourabichvili said.
At a joint news conference earlier on April 25 Russian Foreign Minister said that the process of setting up a Russian-Georgian anti-terrorist center will take place “in parallel to the Russian bases withdrawal.”
During a joint news conference Salome Zourabichvili also unveiled one detail of negotiations with Sergey Lavrov which demonstrates the sensitive nature of these talks, which will, in all likelihood, result in a wave of criticism from Russian nationalistic forces.
“Mr. Lavrov asked me before the talks: ‘are you going to humiliate Russia, or are you ready for a real agreement?’” Salome Zourabichvili said at a news conference.