Russia has no objection to an inspection of its Gudauta military base in Georgia, said Alexander Yakovenko, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry. Speaking about the Georgian Parliament’s appeal to Russia to agree to the inspection of the military base, he said: ⌠It is difficult to explain the motives of this appeal. Perhaps, Georgian parliamentarians have not been properly informed on the issue. Of course, we don’t think that this move is aimed at putting additional pressure on bilateral relations. According to Mr. Yakovenko, there is no problem with the military base. Under the Russian-Georgian declaration of 17 November 1999 and the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), Russia withdrew its weapons and military equipment from Georgia in 2001, and dismantled its Gudauta military base. In July 2001, Russia officially informed all CFE countries about it. Thus, the Gudauta base, where some equipment is used to help the CIS collective forces support peace in the zone of the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict, was closed for inspections within the framework of the treaty. At the same time, Russia did not object to holding an inspection according to Section VIII of the Protocol on Inspections to the CFE Treaty, Mr. Yakovenko stressed. Meanwhile, Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin expressing Tbilisi’s ⌠categorical rejection of double standards applied by Russian authorities and their lack of respect for the decision of the heads of CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries of 1996, forbidding any unilateral economic and political contacts with Abkhazian separatists without coordination with Georgian leadership. Moscow has not yet reacted to this statement. (RBC)