The Russian Foreign Ministry expressed protest over joint NATO-Georgia exercises near Tbilisi and said that “Russia sees this activity as a serious threat to peace and stability in the region.”

“NATO is not hiding that current military partnership with Tbilisi is considered part of its policy to contain Russia. The role Georgia decided to play in this context complicates the positive process of improving Russian-Georgian relations,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on November 15.

“Georgia’s other neighbors – Abkhazia and South Ossetia – have expressed their own concerns repeatedly,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said and added that the promises of NATO membership at the Bucharest summit pushed Tbilisi to criminal attacks on Russian peacekeepers and civilians in Tskhinvali in August 2008.

Joint NATO-Georgia Exercises 2016 are being held at the Joint Training and Evaluation Center (JTEC) in Krtsanisi on November 10-20 with the participation of servicemen from Georgia, 11 allied member states and 2 partners. The exercises aim to enhance the interoperability of Georgian, Allied and Partner Forces, as well as command and control capabilities.

Noting that this is the third multinational exercise of this kind in Georgia this year, after Noble Partner in May and Agile Spirit in September, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Georgian troops are intensively trained according to NATO standards with active involvement of NATO command.