Russian Defense Minister Speaks of Bases’ Pullout
Speaking at a news briefing on June 6 Russian Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov focused on the process of pulling out the Russian military bases from Georgia, which, according to an agreement between Tbilisi and Moscow, should end in 2008.
?We will have to pull out 2,500 servicemen, to say nothing about their family members, 2,500 units of military hardware, 80 thousand tons of ammunition, military property and other freights,? RIA Novosti quotes Sergey Lavrov as saying.
He said, the main part of the hardware and property, as well as personnel will be pulled out by sea.
The Russian Defense Minister also said that a part of military bases will be transferred to the Russian military base in Armenia.
?We do not speak about transfer of armaments to Armenia. Simply, they will be redeployed from one Russian base to another,? Interfax news agency quotes Ivanov as saying.
He stated that Russia would stick to the limits of armaments stipulated by the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, which defines the amount of permitted armaments allowed on any one territory.
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