U.S. TO KEEP BACKING GEORGIA, SAYS GEORGIAN SPEAKER

Xinhua

June 11 2009
China

MOSCOW, June 10 (Xinhua) — The United States will continue to
support Georgia’s territorial integrity, and will strive to ensure
its security, Georgian parliamentary speaker David Bakradze was quoted
as saying by Russian media on Wednesday.

"We spoke about problems and prospects of Georgia, including about its
integration into NATO. The U.S. position on this issue is invariable:
it will continue supporting the process of Georgia’s integration
into Euro-Atlantic structures," the Interfax news agency quoted
Bakradze as saying after meeting with U.S. Assistant Secretary of
State Philip Gordon.

The situation in Georgia was also discussed at the meeting, said
the speaker.

"Gordon said that the U.S. backs reforms in Georgia and calls to
resolve all problems through peaceful political dialogue," he said.

Gordon, who arrived in Tbilisi on Tuesday, has also met with Georgian
opposition in the U.S. embassy in Georgia on Wednesday.

When visiting the capital city of Armenia, Yerevan, on Tuesday, Gordon
told media that the United States will continue to provide military
assistance to Georgia, ensuring its self-defense and safeguarding its
domestic stability, but such assistance is confined to cooperation
on military training only.

The current territorial disputes of Georgia cannot be solved through
military channels, said Gordon.

Georgia’s leading opposition parties and groups started demonstrations
in Tbilisi on April 9, urging President Mikhail Saakashvili to step
down over his failure to conduct democratic reforms as well as the
brief yet catastrophic war with Russia last August.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress