Russia Accuses NATO of Linking CFE Ratification with Georgia, Moldova

In the article published in Russian daily Rosiiskaya Gazeta Alexander Yakovenko, Spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, claims that the NATO member states link the ratification of the Adapted Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty (CFE), which is dragged out for already five years, with Russia?s commitment undertaken at the 1999 OSCE Istanbul Summit regarding pullout of its military bases from Georgia and Moldova.

?The presence of Russian bases in Georgia and Moldova is exclusively a matter for bilateral negotiations and does not represent any commitment to the third country,? Yakovenko claims.

He said, Russia has fully complied with all its obligations under the Istanbul agreement, which called for the withdrawal of two military bases – Vaziani (near Tbilisi) and Gudauta (Abkhazia) by 2001, as well as the withdrawal of the two remaining bases – Batumi (Adjara) and Akhalkalaki (Samtskhe-Javakheti) based on a mutually agreed timeframe.

?Our partners from NATO try to link the agreement over timeframe with the pullout of military bases,? the Russian Foreign Ministry?s spokesperson said.

Alexander Yakovenko said, during the visit of Russian Foreign Minister to Tbilisi in February, the sides agreed over ?the key parameters of pullout?, however during the Moscow talks in late March ?the Georgian side made its position more severe.?

?It seems, someone tries to use this reason for dragging out the ratification of CFE,? Yakovenko added.

The Russian-Georgian talks over pullout of military bases, which were held in Moscow on March 23-25, brought no results. The next round of negotiations are scheduled for April 7-8.

The final communiqu? of the OSCE Summit has made ratification of the Amended Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty by the allies conditional on the implementation of Russia?s Istanbul commitments, that is, the withdrawal of the military forces and hardware from Georgia and Moldova.

In a simple language this means that unless Russia withdraws from Moldova and Georgia, NATO would consider itself free to increase military presence in the Baltic countries.

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