A United States warship on Tuesday made a port call in Georgia for joint training with the coastguard of the Caucasus nation, which is keen to join NATO.
The
USS Porter, a guided-missile destroyer from the US Navy's 6th Fleet,
arrived in Georgia's Black Sea port of Batumi for a three-day visit, the
US embassy said in a statement.
"The
Porter's visit reaffirms the United States' commitment to strengthening
ties with NATO allies and partners like Georgia, while working toward
mutual goals of promoting security and stability in the Black Sea
region," it said.
The US Navy
delivered humanitarian aid to ex-Soviet Georgia in the wake of Russia's
brief war with the country in 2008, and has since then regularly
operated warships in Georgian waters.
Moscow
criticised then-US president George W. Bush's decision to dispatch the
sophisticated warships to deliver the aid, saying they were unsuitable
for humanitarian missions.
Georgia's
bid to join NATO and the European Union infuriated its former imperial
master Russia, which bitterly opposes the alliance's expansion into
former Soviet republics.
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