Russia Agrees to Georgia Pullout

Russia promised Monday to shut its two Soviet-era military bases in neighboring Georgia and pull out its troops in 2008.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said the decision should help thaw chilly ties between the two nations.

“I am sure that ... we can adjust to more constructive relations,” he told journalists in Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei V. Lavrov announced the move after months of rising tension between Moscow and Tbilisi, whose pro-Western government describes the presence of Russian troops as an “occupation.”

Lavrov and his Georgian counterpart, Salome Zourabichvili, signed a joint communique covering the main stages of the phased withdrawal.

Zourabichvili said the communique stated that all Russian armor would be withdrawn, though any of the 2,500 soldiers and officers deployed at the bases who wanted to remain residents of Georgia would be allowed to stay.

“We expect up to one-third of the servicemen to use this chance,” she said.

Zourabichvili said that, as far as Georgia was concerned, the deal did not need parliamentary ratification and would take effect immediately.

But a separate technical protocol would be worked out by experts and ratified by the Russian parliament, she said.

“It is not a legally binding document,” Zourabichvili said of the communique. “But it is politically binding.”

The issue of bases is one of several to have strained relations between Russia and its small southern neighbor since Georgia gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

Georgia accuses Moscow of backing separatists in its two breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Russia suspects Georgia of turning a blind eye to Chechen guerrillas operating from its border territory.