Georgian Defense Minister Bacho Akhalaia met senior officials from U.S. Department of Defense and Department of State in Batumi on Monday ahead of U.S.-Georgia Strategic Partnership Commission session, which will be opened on June 5 by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Akhalaia met with Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Joseph McMillan and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Defense Trade and Regional Security Beth M. McCormick to discuss “enhanced defence cooperation between Georgia and the U.S.,” the Georgian Ministry of Defense said.

“We, the Minister and I discussed a plan that we have going forward… where we can cooperate to continue enhancing Georgia’s defence capabilities and we also talked in preparation for the Strategic Partnership Commission that will go on tomorrow hosted by the Prime Minister [Nika Gilauri] and Secretary Clinton,” Joseph McMillan said after the meeting.