According to a BBC report, Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zurabishvili stated that the withdrawal of the Russian military bases from Georgia will not cause hardships for the Armenians of Akhalkalaki. When commenting on the fact that the Armenian population of Georgia speaks out against the withdrawal of the Russian military bases the Minister noted that in democratic states people are not differentiated by ethnicity. "We are all citizens of Georgia, there is only a local problem we are going to overcome", she said. "There is still time before the Russian bases will be completely withdrawn and we will work at the economic development of the region to fill in the gaps that can appear after the withdrawal. We have already discussed the issue with the Armenian leader and assured him that problems will not emerge", the Minister noted.