Russia says US-Georgia defence drills are “provocative”
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Russia is dissatisfied that Georgia and the United States (US) are getting ready to conduct joint military exercises in Georgia.
The Foreign Ministry of Russia issued a special statement criticising the "large-scale preparations” for the Noble Partner drills, which will launch on May 11 and continue for just over two weeks.
"We regard this ongoing "exploration” of Georgia’s territory by NATO forces as a provocative step aimed at escalating the military and political situation in the South Caucasus,” the Russian Ministry’s statement said.
"To a large extent, this is encouraged by Washington and its allies’ open connivance at Tbilisi’s revanchist ambitions.”
Meanwhile heavy military equipment from the US Army arrived in Georgia to be used in the two-week joint US-Georgia military exercise.
Established in 2015, the Noble Partner exercise aimed to train service members from the Georgian Armed Forces (GAF) and NATO member states for the NATO Response Force (NRF) unit, and to improve the GAF’s interoperability with NATO soldiers.
Heavy military equipment from the United States (US) Army has arrived in Georgia and is ready to be used in a two-week joint US-Georgia military exercise.
The United States (US) Army's iconic Abrams tanks will feature alongside other heavy military equipment at this year's joint Georgia-US military exercise Noble Partner, which starts later this month.
Georgian Armed Forces (GAF) and their United States (US) Army partners will hold a second edition of the joint military exercise Noble Partner as two countries continue their defence cooperation.
"Georgia is an independent and sovereign state, which has the right to hold any kind of training on its territory,” Georgia’s Foreign Ministry says.
Georgia has a firm pro-Western course and this direction was chosen by the people of Georgia, says Prime Minister. Giorgi Kvirikashvili stressed the ruling Georgian Dream party had a political vector that fully reflected the nations’ pro-Western choice.
The largest-ever joint military drills between Georgia and NATO have officially launched on Georgian soil. The Noble Partner exercises opened at the Vaziani military air base just outside capital Tbilisi today with a novel display involving military vehicles parachuting out of planes.
Georgian and American soldiers are today practicing anti-tank exercises at Vaziani military base just outside Tbilisi.
The Georgian-American military drills for special operations forces have officially closed in Georgia's capital Tbilisi today.
Georgia is condemning the mass military drills initiated by Russia in the north Caucasus, in Crimea, in military bases in Armenia and in Georgia’s occupied regions and say the exercises are provocative and a "threat that has the potential to destabilize the region”.
The Russian 58th army is conducting drills in Georgia’s occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region, with the involvement of local "operative groups and divisions”, Russian and Tskhinvali media reports.
The exercises are being conducted in Volgograd, Rostov, Stavropol, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Ossetia, Crimea, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Armenia.