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US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin landed in Georgia Monday on the first leg of a visit to three allies on the Black Sea, aiming to deliver a message of support against threats from Russia.
The first Pentagon chief to visit since 2014, Austin will seek to renew a military training program and demonstrate America’s commitment to Tbilisi, which has sought for years to become a full member of NATO.
“We are reassuring and reinforcing the sovereignty of countries that are on the front lines of Russian aggression,” a senior US defence official told reporters ahead of the trip.
Russian troops are stationed in two Georgian breakaway regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and Moscow opposes any move to elevate the country’s NATO status from partner-state level to full member.
The United States has had training programs with the Georgian military for years, focused on developing interoperability capability with NATO as well as territorial defence, and the current program expires in December.
In meetings with Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Minister of Defence Juansher Burchuladze, Austin will also express appreciation for Georgia’s contribution to the two-decade war in Afghanistan, US officials said.
More than 20,000 Georgian troops took part in the US-led coalition force between 2004 and 2021, and 32 lost their lives in the conflict.
The Biden administration needs to pay more attention to Georgia to head off a potential tilt toward Russia as well as China, said political scientist David Kramer at Florida International University, who is a former senior US diplomat.
“There is growing concern that the government is a little too flexible to Moscow,” he said.
“Part of that is frustration with a lack of progress that they see toward integration with NATO.”
From Tbilisi, Austin will then travel to two other…
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Source : france24
