US Deputy State Secretary Talks on Pankisi Problem

(Tbilisi, January 24, 2003. Civil Georgia) – In the interview to the Moscow based Echo Moskvi radio station on January 23 Richard Armitage, the US Deputy Secretary of State said that it is hard to criticize preventive strikes for the country (United States), which believes in this kind of strikes.

US official commented on Russian authorities statements last year concerning the necessity of the pre-emptive strikes against the militants harboring in Georgia’s Pankisi gorge.

Echo Moskvi web site reports quoting Richard Armitage that Russia and Georgia are neighbors and “we hope Russia would take this fact into consideration and Russia and Georgia will live in peace.”

Richard Armitage also said that the United States are concerned with the presence of the militants in Pankisi gorge. He stated that the US government provides Georgian troops with training and equipment to deal with the problem.