TBILISI, February 22 (RIA Novosti) - Georgia's Foreign Ministry has started issuing visas to the Russian military deployed in the South Caucasus republic, Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili said Wednesday.

"For servicemen whose visas have expired, we began issuing visas yesterday," Bezhuashvili said, adding that visas had to be issued to 1,200 Russian servicemen and their families.

Nika Rurua, the head of the parliamentary defense and security committee, said that servicemen who were soon to be replaced would not have their visas renewed.

Bezhuashvili also said visas for the Russian military, and the decision of the Russian embassy in Georgia to stop issuing visas to Georgian citizens, were unrelated matters.

The consular department of the Russian Embassy in Georgia had said Tuesday that it would stop issuing visas as of February 21, 2006 barring cases involving humanitarian factors.

"This forced move results from the fact that despite agreements reached on the withdrawal of Russian military bases and facilities from Georgian territory, which also regulate the rotation of Russian servicemen, the Georgian side has created artificial barriers for the receipt of visas by Russian servicemen during the year," the embassy said.

The embassy also said that visas of Russian soldiers and officers staying in the country were not being extended.