US ready to fund pullout of Russian troops from Georgia
TBILISI - The United States is prepared to help fund the withdrawal of Russian troops from Georgia, Lynn Pascoe, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, said at a press conference in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. He noted that the US had done this in the past, and it would provide some assistance to pull out the forces.
According to the norms of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the troops of any country should not be where they were not welcomed, the official added. He said that, under the agreements signed at the OSCE summit in Istanbul in 1999, Russia was to pull out two of its military bases from Georgia in 2000, and to set the date for the withdrawal of another two bases.
Mr. Pascoe praised the pullout of Russian military bases from Vaziani and Gudauta. At the same time, he expressed regret that no date had been fixed for the withdrawal of Russian bases from Batumi and Gudauta, and there was “no progress”.
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US ready to fund pullout of Russian troops from Georgia