Georgia and the United States continue to intensively cooperate in the defense sector, assured Irakli Chikovani.
Georgian Defense Minister Irakli Chikovani called the Pentagon’s statement on postponing the Noble Partner joint military exercises an “incomprehensible decision.” Sova reported this on Saturday, July 6.
He recalled that there are different formats of cooperation between the Ministry of Defense and the American defense department, so they are preparing for exercises in 2025.
“The decision related to the postponement of the Worthy Partner for an indefinite period is not clear although, on the other hand, I would like to emphasize that we, the Department of Defense and the US Department of Defense, have many different formats of collaboration where we work and collaborate intensively, and this collaboration continues,” he said.
Chikovani called the exercise with the participation of units from different countries a useful event for the Georgian defense forces, as well as for the US armed forces and representatives of all participating countries in these exercises.
“We continue to cooperate in these formats, we are working and preparing for other international exercises planned for 2025,” added the minister.
In turn, US Ambassador to Georgia Robin Dunnigan believes that there is nothing “incomprehensible” in the Pentagon’s decision, as bilateral relations are under review due to Tbilisi’s actions.
“It is, of course, sad, but there is nothing clear about it. We discussed this issue, and the Secretary of State (Anthony Blinken – ed.) clearly said that our bilateral relations are under review, so in this context , these exercises were canceled because they were public statements by some individuals, including members of the ruling party And, as a result, relations were reconsidered.
The previous day, the Pentagon announced that the United States has postponed the Worthy Partner exercises with Georgia indefinitely due to a comprehensive review of bilateral cooperation. These should take place from July 25 – August 6.
Source: korrespondent
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