U.S. Military Cooperation with Georgia ‘Increasingly Important’
The U.S. will have military-to-military relations with Georgia as Washington supports Tbilisi’s NATO aspirations and this type of relation “becomes increasingly important, given the current situation in and around that country,” Philip J. Crowley, assistant secretary of state, said at a press briefing in Washington on July 23.
Asked if the United States were “contemplating rearming Georgia” Crowley responded: “Georgia is on a path that the United States supports towards NATO membership. Clearly, a fundamental tenant of NATO membership is to have a military that meets NATO standards and would add to the capability of the alliance. So it is logical that the United States would have a military-to-military relationship with Georgia.”
“So I think that the Vice President outlined today not only the importance of our relationship with Georgia, our willingness to continue to help Georgia with its defensive requirements, and a commitment that we will continue to work closely with the government going forward,” he added.
In Tbilisi U.S. Vice President, Joe Biden, said in his speech before the Parliament that the U.S. would continue helping Georgia “to modernize” its military “with the focus on training, planning and organization.” He also said that Washington “fully supports” Georgia’s aspiration to join NATO and help Tbilisi to meet the alliance’s standards.
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