RUSSIA DOES NOT HAVE PROBLEMS WITH BALTIC COUNTRIES IN THE MILITARY SPHERE

MUNICH, February 13 (RIA Novosti) - "Our relations with the Baltic countries in the military sphere do not have any problems. There are problems related to the past and the situation with national minorities in the Baltic countries," Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov announced at the 41st International Conference on security policy in Munich.

Mr. Ivanov pointed out that it would take time to solve these problems.

The Russian defense minister also announced that he supported the EU position in regard to Macedonia, where national minorities were assigned representation quotas in various organizations.

"I support the EU position in regard to Macedonia, when national minorities were assigned representation quotas in various organizations," he said, adding that this experience could be applied to national minorities in the Baltic countries.

Speaking about Russian-Georgian relations, Mr. Ivanov pointed out that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would visit Tbilisi the following week to discuss the issue of the status of two Russian military bases in Georgia.

"We are conducting bilateral talks with Georgia about the status of two remaining Russian brigades on the territory of Georgia, although we have not set the dates for their withdrawal yet. The Russian foreign minister will visit Tbilisi next week and discuss this issue," he said.