A group of Russian diplomats arrived in Tbilisi on September 7 to negotiate the second stage of the withdrawal process of the Russian military bases from Georgia.

Igor Savolsky, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s special envoy for CIS affairs and Russia’s chief negotiator in the talks over the withdrawal of Russian military bases from Georgia, and Lev Mironov, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s special envoy, will hold talks with Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Merab Antadze on September 8-9.

The Russian side has already pulled out part of its military equipment and hardware from the Batumi and Akhalkalaki military bases and handed over some military facilities to Georgia. The sides will now negotiate the details of withdrawing the remaining military equipment from the bases.

According to a joint declaration signed by the Georgian and Russian Foreign Ministers in Moscow on May 30, Russia should completely pull out its bases in the course of 2008.