CHILLY RELATIONS
New US military aid to Georgia would further aggravate relations between Washington and Moscow, already at a post-Cold War low.
Russia has condemned the US use of warships to deliver aid to Georgia as a form of gunboat diplomacy. The flagship of the US 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean, the USS Mount Whitney, arrived in the Black Sea on Wednesday with a cargo of aid.
“What we expect is an active US role in the economic reconstruction of this country,” Georgian national security council head Alexander Lomaia said.
He said Georgia expected the US to help its bid for the EU and NATO and to send a signal to Russia that “such an illegal military behavior ... will not be tolerated anymore.”
The US aid package is about the same as the estimate given by Georgian Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze of how much damage the economy suffered from the war. Last year’s national budget was only about US$3 billion.
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