NATO-led drills kick off in Georgia amid Russian criticism  

13:50 | 06/ 05/ 2009

TBILISI, May 6 (RIA Novosti) – NATO started an exercise in ex-Soviet
Georgia on Wednesday despite Russia’s fierce criticism of the drills
and following a revolt at a military base outside the capital Tbilisi
the day before.
Russia has blasted the drills, to run until June 1, as a provocation
in the light of the brief war last August, when Moscow sent troops to
repel Georgia’s attack on South Ossetia.
Tbilisi said on Tuesday it had crushed a mutiny at a tank base,
claiming Russia was behind the revolt, which was part of a coup to
overthrow President Mikheil Saakashvili and thwart the NATO
drills. Moscow dismissed the accusations as attempts to distract
attention from almost month-long opposition protests.
The opposition, which has demanded Saakashvili step down over the war
with Russia and his backsliding on democracy, said on Tuesday the coup
reports were a "theatrical show" staged by the president, and "virtual
reality."
"The full-scale exercise is due to begin on May 11, today we are
launching its preparatory phase," Georgian Defense Ministry official
David Nardzaya said on Wednesday.
Over 1,300 troops from 19 NATO member or ally states were originally
scheduled to participate, but Kazakhstan, Latvia, Estonia, Moldova,
Serbia and Armenia have withdrawn.
NATO has dismissed Russia’s concerns about the drills, saying they
were not aimed against Russia. They are designed to improve
interoperability and will not involve any light or heavy weaponry, the
bloc said.
NATO spokesman James Appathurai reiterated in a Russian radio
interview on Wednesday that the exercise had been planned before the
Georgia war, and was not a show of support for Georgia.
Russia, anxious about the Western alliance’s expansion to include its
former Soviet allies and new NATO bases emerging on its border, is
strongly opposed to NATO membership for Georgia and Ukraine.
The two countries’ bids were kept on hold at a NATO gathering in
December.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress