Russian gov’t says NATO-Georgia drills foster militarist mood

Maria Zakharova, head of the press office of the Russian Foreign Ministry, stated today that NATO-Georgia drills nourish a militarist mood, referring to the Noble Partner multinational exercise being conducted near Tbilisi.

 I cannot agree with the statement of the Georgian Defence Ministry that the drills aim to serve regional security and stability,” she said.

Stability and security can be achieved by a constructive dialogue and not by tanks or helicopters,” Zakharova added.

She said that Russia is "sorry for the fact” that some neighboring countries have also gotten involved in the drills.

Noble Partner 2018, a Georgian Armed Forces and the US Army Europe led exercise officially kicked off in Georgia on August 1 and is scheduled to be completed on August 15.

The 13 participating states are: Georgia, the US, the UK, Germany, Estonia, France, Lithuania, Poland, Norway, Turkey, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The number of soldiers is over 3,000.

The exercise, which aims to enhance participating nations’ readiness and interoperability, is complex and includes command-staff and field trainings combined with combat shootings, as well as the interaction of combat support elements in both defence and attack operations.