French ambassador denies commitments on air defense systems to Georgia
TBILISI. April 3 (Interfax) - French Ambassador to Georgia Renaud Salins has denied that Georgia has signed any documents with France concerning supplies of air defense systems.
"Some discussions started last year between the government of Georgia and some French industrialists in the normal framework of our defense cooperation. I insist on the term 'discussions' because nothing committing was signed by the Georgian side - no agreement, no treaty, not commitment, whatsoever. The only thing I can say now is that those discussions which started last year are continuing," the Georgian Defense Ministry quoted Renaud as saying following a meeting with Georgian Defense Minister Mindia Janelidze, in commenting on former Georgian Defense Minister Irakly Alasania's statement to the effect that he had signed a memorandum in Paris on postponing the signature of a contract for selling air defense systems to Georgia for six months.
Alasania had said earlier on Friday that he intended to raise the issue of the Georgian government's decision not to sign a contract for state-of-the-art air defense systems from France.
"In October last year, while serving as defense minister, I was supposed to sign a contract for air defense systems in Paris but was forbidden to do so at the last moment at Prime Minister Garibashvili's and former Prime Minister Ivanishvili's demand, and to make it more convincing, five of my subordinates were detained the same day in Tbilisi on a fabricated charge of stealing money from the military budget. Despite all this, I still signed a memorandum with my French partners, which envisioned the postponement of the contract's signature for six months. This memorandum expired at the end of March this year," Alasania said at a press conference.
Prime Minister Garibashvili accused the former defense minister of lying. "I am not interested in making comments on such irresponsible statements. This is a blatant lie. It's too bad that such issues of national significance are being gambled on," he said.