Russia Concerned over U.S. ‘Military Presence’ in Georgia

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov, who currently visits the United States, said on January 13, that the U.S. military presence in the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, especially in Georgia is a sensitive issue for Moscow, Itar-Tass news agency reported on January 14.

U.S. military instructors helped Georgia in training about 2,400 troops in frames of the Georgia Train-and-Equip Program (GTEP) in 2002-2004. The United States also pledged that it will launch a new military assistance program in 2005 to train Georgian troops in peace support operations.

The Russian Defense Minister also spoke about the Russian-NATO relations and said that sides failed to achieve “higher level of cooperation in combating terrorism,” according to the Itar-Tass news agency.

Sergey Ivanov reiterated that Russia is ready to hit pre-emptive strikes against the terrorist bases outside the Russian territory.

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