Afghan-bound Georgia troops could use US training against Russia

October 8th, 2009 NEW YORK - The UN Security Council Thursday extended the mandate of the international forces in Afghanistan for another 12 months to pursue the training of Afghan national security troops. The new mandate begins Tuesday amid a growing Taliban insurgency against NATO and US-led troops.

October 1st, 2009 MOSCOW - Russia's military Thursday warned of an increasing militarisation of its southern neighbour Georgia, in a warning coming a day after a European Union report blamed both countries for the brief but bitter war in the summer of 2008. Deputy chief of general staff Anatoly Nogovizin said that since the war, Georgia had boosted its military forces by 4,000 to a current level of 36,000.

September 30th, 2009 EU steps up Georgia patrols before war reportMOSCOW — On the eve of a European Union report on who started the Russia-Georgia war, EU monitors have stepped up their patrols in Georgia to try to keep tensions from boiling over into violence, an official said Tuesday. The August 2008 war ended with Russian soldiers driving Georgian forces out of the separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

September 30th, 2009 AP source: Georgia says Russia war crimes citedWASHINGTON — Georgia claims a report commissioned by the European Union concludes that Russian troops were responsible for ethnic cleansing during last year's war with Georgia. A Georgian official briefed by an EU investigator on the report's findings said Tuesday that the report also concludes that some Russian combat troops crossed into Georgian territory before the start of hostilities on Aug.

September 3rd, 2009 Russia warns Georgia against Abkhaz 'sea blockade'MOSCOW — A Russian official has warned Georgia that attempts to block ships from reaching a Moscow-aligned separatist region of Georgia could end in military intervention. Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko did not make any specific threats in televised comments Thursday but said that "attempts to install a sea blockade" on Abkhazia "could lead to a serious armed incident." Separatist authorities say Georgia has halted 23 ships in Black Sea waters near Abkhazia this year.

August 21st, 2009 Georgian official backs off troop training commentTBILISI, Georgia — Georgia's defense minister asserted Friday that U.S. training for his Afghanistan-bound troops could also be put to use in any new flare-up with Russia, then retracted the statement amid American handwringing.

August 21st, 2009 Georgia Def Min: US training could target RussiaTBILISI, Georgia — Georgia's defense minister said Friday that training his troops will receive from the U.S. military before heading to Afghanistan could also be used in Georgia's "very difficult security environment." Asked if he was referring to the possibility of another war with Russia, Georgian Defense Minister Vasil Sikharulidze answered: "In general, yes." "This experience will be important for the Georgian armed forces itself — for the level of training," Sikharulidze said during an interview with The Associated Press in his Tbilisi office.

August 14th, 2009 US Marines to help train Georgian troopsTBILISI, Georgia — A group of U.S. Marines will arrive in Georgia to help train its troops for a mission alongside coalition forces in Afghanistan, the U.S.

August 10th, 2009 Russian bill expands reasons for deploying troopsMOSCOW —President Dmitry Medvedev has submitted a bill expanding legal reasons to deploy Russian troops abroad, the Kremlin said Monday. The bill released by the Kremlin would allow the president to send troops outside Russia to fend off attacks on the Russian military, deter aggression against another state, protect Russian citizens or combat pirates.

August 5th, 2009 Russia keeping US Humvees as war trophiesMOSCOW — A top Russian general says Russia has no intention of returning U.S. Humvees that Russian soldiers seized during the brief war with Georgia a year ago.

August 4th, 2009 Obama, Medvedev discuss Georgia, arms controlMOSCOW — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday spoke with President Barack Obama about Georgia, just days before the anniversary of last year's Russia-Georgia war, a Kremlin statement said. The two leaders shared a telephone conversation at Moscow's initiative, the statement said, adding they also discussed arms control, the Middle East and Iran.

July 22nd, 2009 Biden gets flag-waving welcome in GeorgiaTBILISI, Georgia — Hundreds of flag-waving Georgians lined streets in the capital to welcome U.S. Vice President Joe Biden following his arrival in the former Soviet republic a year after its war with Russia.

June 29th, 2009 Russia holds major war games in CaucasusMOSCOW — Thousands of troops, backed by hundreds of tanks, artillery and other heavy weaponry, began rumbling through the North Caucasus on Monday, as Russia began its largest military exercises since last year's war with Georgia. The Caucasus 2009 war games are being seen by many experts as a direct threat to nearby Georgia, where the government says it has rearmed armed forces and where NATO recently wrapped up its own exercises.

May 31st, 2009 NATO, partners wrap up Georgia military trainingVAZIANI, Georgia — Georgian and Ukrainian troops neutralized simulated suicide bombers and a mock mob on a wind-swept hilltop military base near the Georgian capital Sunday as part of monthlong military exercises that have angered Russia. NATO is training soldiers from the two Westward-leaning former Soviet states, along with two other aspiring NATO members, at the Vaziani military base not far from the separatist South Ossetia province, where war between Russia and Georgia erupted nine months ago.

May 6th, 2009 TBILISI - NATO started an exercise in Georgia Wednesday despite Russia's fierce criticism and following a revolt at a military base outside the capital Tuesday. Russia has criticised 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.