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The ministry stresses Tbilisi’s partnership with NATO complicates normalization of ties

New NATO-Georgian military drills pose a threat to the regional peace and stability, Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

“As for the new NATO-Georgian military exercise involving over 250 servicemen from 13 countries, they pose a serious threat to the regional peace and stability,” the statement reads. “This is the third international exercise of this kind held on Georgia’s territory after the Noble Partner drills conducted in May and the Agile Spirit Exercise held in September. NATO has been stepping up the Georgian military’s training in accordance with the Alliance’s standards, involving NATO’s command staff members.”
“Russia believes that such activities pose a threat to the regional peace and stability,” the foreign ministry stressed. “Georgia’s neighbors Abkhazia and South Ossetia have also expressed concern. We all remember that the statements made at the NATO summit in Bucharest encouraged Tbilisi’s attack on the Russian peacekeepers and civilians in Tskhinval in August 2008.”
“NATO does not cover up the goal of its military cooperation with Georgia regarding it as part of its containment policy towards Russia,” the ministry said. “The role that Tbilisi is trying to play prevents an improvement in the Russian-Georgian relations.”
The NATO-Georgian drills are being conducted from November 10 to 20 according to the cooperation package adopted at the NATO summit in 2014. The military exercise is being held on the territory of the NATO-Georgian Joint Training and Evaluation Center in Krtsanisi on the outskirts of the country’s capital of Tbilisi.

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