MOSCOW — After two years of rocky negotiations, the presidents of Russia and Latvia agreed Saturday on an Aug. 31 deadline for withdrawal of Russia's troops from the Baltic nation.
The treaty, subject to ratification by both parliaments, allows the Russian army to operate its early warning radar station in the Latvian town of Skrunda for four more years. It will have 18 months after that to dismantle the facility, an integral part of Russia's air defense system.
Retired Russian and Soviet officers will be permitted to remain in Latvia with residency permits and social security benefits, but the two nations will set up a fund to help repatriate those wanting to return to Russia.
In Washington, President Clinton hailed the agreement, saying it reflects the "pragmatic approach" of both sides.
If the agreement holds, it will bring Russia within one step of ending what the tiny Baltic nations consider a long, painful military occupation.
Soviet leader Josef Stalin forcibly annexed Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia in 1940, and 130,000 troops stayed there under Russian command after the three nations regained independence from the disintegrating Soviet Union in 1991.
The last Russian soldier left Lithuania last August. But 2,300 soldiers remain in Estonia, and negotiations on their pullout have bogged down.
Latvian President Guntis Ulmanis signed the treaty on his first official visit to Russia. President Boris N. Yeltsin welcomed him in the Kremlin and made a point of condemning "Stalinist repressions against autonomous, independent Latvia," according to Russia's Itar-Tass news agency.
About 600 Russian soldiers are to stay in Skrunda to operate the radar station. Yeltsin said he expected the remaining 10,000 troops to leave Latvia ahead of schedule.
He said many officers have children and want to get their families settled in Russia well before the school year starts Sept. 1.
Ulmanis told reporters that he hopes the accord will "break the ice of mistrust and hostility that exists in both Latvia and Russia" but was uncertain his Parliament will accept it.
The treaty is certain to meet criticism in Latvia for two reasons.
Ulmanis agreed to a relatively low rent on the radar station--$5 million per year--and got no direct compensation to help support the 22,320 retired Russian officers and their families, who live better than many Latvians.
