In March 2005 negotiations over a long-stalled issue of Russian military bases in Georgia sharply accelerated. In the end of May, the foreign ministers of the two countries signed a joint statement, which stipulated that the withdrawal of bases would begin in 2005 and would conclude in 2008. Georgia, with good reason to celebrate, has declared once again that the removal of this thorny issue will facilitate friendly Russian-Georgian relations (despite other issues, however, that need to be solved in particular the difficult questions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia). Russia responded with a polite statement citing centuries-old Russian-Georgian friendship. […]
Memo #:
363
Series:
1
PDF:
PDF URL:
http://www.gwu.edu/~ieresgwu/assets/docs/ponars/pm_0363.pdf
