OREANDA-NEWS. The Georgian-Russian anti-terrorism center, which was planned to be created 15 years ago, was supposed to function exclusively on a bilateral basis and without the participation of NATO. This is stated in a commentary circulated on Monday by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

Commenting on the statement made by the President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili on May 19 in an interview with the Rustavi-2 television channel, Zakharova noted: "In 2005-2006, the creation of the Georgian-Russian anti-terrorism center was seen by the parties as an element of a package agreement on the withdrawal of Russian military bases from Georgia".

In support of her words, the diplomat referred to two documents: a joint statement made in 2005 by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and the same Zurabishvili, who then headed the Georgian Foreign Ministry, and an agreement signed in March 2006 regulating the procedure for the withdrawal of Russian military bases from Georgia.