"Ultimatums are not the language to speak with Russia," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Valery Loshchinin said on the Mayak radio on Saturday.
Loshchinin thereby responded to Georgian Parliament Speaker Nino Burdzhanadze who said, Thursday, that on May 15 the Georgian parliament would adopt strict measures with respect to the Russian troops deployed on its territory if no progress was achieved in terms of the Russian bases' withdrawal. Georgia is thereby acting in line with a March 10, 2005 resolution, according to Burdzhanadze.
"The Georgian parliament's steps were inadequate. Ultimatums are counterproductive. We are not going to cling to Georgia or retain our [military] presence there," said Loshchinin.
The March 10 resolution stipulates Russia's bases in Batumi (Georgia's autonomy of Adzharia in the west) and in Akhalkalaki, on the border with Armenia, should leave Georgia before January 1, 2006. The Georgian government was tasked with taking a series of measures, including suspending visas for the Russian military and imposing restrictions on their movement on Georgian territory, to speed up the process.
Initially Moscow and Tbilisi talked about an 11-year withdrawal timeframe, recalled the diplomat.
"We have agreed to complete the process in four years' time, but for some reason Tbilisi became opposed to that. Russia's parliament responded harshly to the Georgian parliament's statement, and Russia can retaliate with rather tough measures," said the deputy minister.
Loshchinin said the Georgian community in Russia sent hundreds of millions of dollars to Georgia every year, thereby providing a substantial support for the Georgian economy, which was only possible on condition of friendly relations between the two countries.
Russian MPs said on Friday if Georgia took unilateral steps with respect to the bases, Russia should summon the Russian ambassador from Georgia for discussions, suspend issuing entry visas to Georgians, and step up efforts to deport Georgian nationals living in Russia with expired visas and without proper registration.
MPs also said Russia should consider raising prices of energy resources and electricity exported Georgia to the international level and cutting the exports.
