Russia, US to Confer on Funding Arms Pullout From GeorgiaOfficials from Russia and the United States will hold talks on US financial assistance for the withdrawal of Russia's military weaponry from Georgia, the Interfax news agency reported Wednesday.A group of US experts led by Special Adviser to the President William Taylor arrived here Tuesday for the consultations, Interfax said, quoting diplomatic sources. Under an understanding reached by Russia and Georgia at the summit of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Russia in Istanbul last year, Russia should cut its military hardware in Georgia to the level set by the Conventional Forces in Europe(CFE) by the end of this year. Officials from several Russian Foreign Ministry departments are expected to attend. "Technical details related to the transfer of funds from the United States to be spent in financing the withdrawal of Russian military hardware stationed on Georgian territory" will be discussed at the consultations, the sources said. "It is a question of allocating some 10 million U.S. dollars to Moscow and Tbilisi, the bulk of which will be given to Russia," Interfax quoted the sources as saying. |
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