Georgia boosting military strength: Moscow

September 7th, 2009 MOSCOW - An earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale jolted Georgia early Tuesday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said. The tremor occurred at 3.41 a.m., with its epicenter some 155 km northwest of the Georgian capital Tbilisi.

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 12th, 2009 Putin pedges massive military spending in AbkhaziaMOSCOW — Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says the country will spend at least 15 billion rubles ($470 million) next year to build Russian military bases in Abkhazia and tighten the separatist Georgian region's borders. Putin's pledge in an interview with Abkhazian media comes on Wednesday's anniversary of the cease-fire in last year's war with Georgia in which Abkhazia and South Ossetia broke from Georgian control.

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 26th, 2009 Medvedev chides NATO over Georgia, UkraineMOSCOW — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Sunday NATO is beginning to realize that Georgia and Ukraine should not be "dragged" into the alliance. "The understanding that these respected states are not ready to make this sort of decision and that the alliance is not ready to absorb them is gradually understood," Medvedev said in remarks televised by NTV television.

July 6th, 2009 US, Russia agree to resume military cooperationMOSCOW — The United States and Russia say they are resuming military cooperation suspended after Russia invaded its smaller neighbor Georgia last year. The expected announcement came Monday, as President Barack Obama and Russian president Dmitry Medvedev (dih-MEE'-tree med-VYEH'-dyev) met for their first summit in Moscow.

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 9th, 2009 Analysis: Obama's support of Georgia untestedWASHINGTON — As President Barack Obama courts closer relations with Russia, U.S. ally Georgia has plenty of reasons to be nervous.

May 5th, 2009 MOSCOW - Russia is to expel the head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's information office from Moscow, a report said Tuesday, in a sign of a continued deterioration of the country's relations with the Western military alliance. Diplomat Isabelle Francois and a NATO colleague are expected to be told formally to leave Russia Wednesday morning, the Interfax news agency said, citing a source in the Russian foreign ministry.

April 30th, 2009 MOSCOW - Russia Thursday said NATO's planned military exercises in Georgia next month are an 'open provocation' and warned of negative consequences. 'NATO's plans to hold exercises in Georgia...

April 17th, 2009 MOSCOW - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Friday that NATO's decision to hold military exercises in Georgia next month threatens to complicate ties with Russia. The military exercises will be held from May 6 to June 1, and will not include light or heavy weaponry.

April 13th, 2009 MOSCOW - Russia concluded its first weapons deal with Israel, purchasing unmanned spy planes valued at around $49 million, a spokesman for the Russia Defence Ministry in Moscow told daily Izvestiya Monday. According to a military export cited by the paper, the purchase was in reaction to the August 2008 war in the south Caucasus - where Georgia successfully employed such drones against Russia.

February 13th, 2009 MOSCOW - Russia Saturday welcomed the UN Security Council's resolution on extending a mandate of a UN observer mission in Georgia and Abkhazia, saying it would help ensure stability in the region. The UN Security Council Friday unanimously passed Resolution 1866 to extend by another four months a mandate for its observer mission in Georgia and its former region of Abkhazia, which is recognised as an independent state by Russia.

January 22nd, 2009 MOSCOW - The Russian foreign ministry Friday said Georgia's expanding military presence on the borders of Abkhazia and South Ossetia continued to be a matter for grave concern. It said the Georgian military and the police presence called for 'special attention on the part of the UN and other international organisations operating in the region'.

January 18th, 2009 MOSCOW - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has signed a decree banning exports of military and dual-purpose products to Georgia, the Kremlin press service said Monday. Under the document, valid until Dec 1, 2011, the government is to develop ways to restrict military cooperation with countries supplying Russian or Soviet-made arms to Georgia.