Russia will move some of the equipment at its military bases in Georgia to neighboring Armenia when it withdraws the bases from the former Soviet republic, Chief of the Russian General Staff Yury Baluyevsky said Thursday.

The bases will be certainly withdrawn to Russian territory, yet some of the military equipment and property will be moved to Armenia, Baluyevsky said, adding the move "will help us to reduce the withdrawal period to four years."

"It is impossible to build the infrastructure for the military equipment and property on Russian territory within four years," he said.

The withdrawal of Russian military bases in Georgia is a hot- button issue that has soured relations between the two former Soviet republics. Moscow has insisted it needs four years to complete the withdrawal of the two bases while Tbilisi says it must be finished before January 2008.

Tensions over the issue have been brought to new highs in recent weeks with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili boycotting Russia's lavish Victory Day celebrations in Moscow and US President George W. Bush raising the issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russia is prepared for fresh talks with Tbilisi next week that will focus on a plan envisaging the completion of the bases' withdrawal in 2008, the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday, a day after a meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Georgian counterpart, Salome Zourabichvili, produced no accord on the issue.

"Experts will soon discuss the time and rules for the withdrawal, as well as mutual commitments, which will be the core of the Russian-Georgian accord on military bases," Baluyevsky said.

The Finance Ministry would not provide funding for the pullout if the two sides have not legally finalized the withdrawal plan, Baluyevsky added.

Source: Xinhua