NATO urges Russia to fulfil pledges over Georgia, Moldova withrawal

ISTANBUL (AFP) Jun 28, 2004
NATO urged Russia Monday to fulfil pledges to withdraw its troops and bases from the ex-Soviet republics of Georgia and Moldova, recalling that ratification of a landmark treaty depends on it.

"I sincerely hope that the Georgian and the Russian government can come to an agreement as far as the dismantling of the bases is concerned," Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said.

The dismantling of the bases was a "key element of the Istanbul commitments, indeed a precondition for the ratification of the adapted CFE treaty," he said.

De Hoop Scheffer spoke after meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of an alliance summit here.

The secretary general said the impasse over the Russian military presence in Georgia and the Transniester region of Moldova was one of the "hard nuts to cut" in NATO's relations with Moscow.

At a summit of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Istanbul in 1999, Russia pledged to withdraw its forces from both southern Caucasus countries by 2002, but halted the process in 2001.

OSCE member states signed an adjusted treaty limiting Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) the same year -- but not ratified -- to account for changing boundaries since the end of the Cold War.

WAR.WIRE