In Geopolitics Today - Monday, October 18th
US Extends Military Support Deal with Georgia and Russia Severs Ties with NATO
US Extends Military Support Deal with Georgia
On the first stop of his trip to meet with officials from Black Sea allies, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin signed an agreement which will extend American support for Georgia's military for a period of six years. The signing of a memorandum of understanding was announced following Austin’s meeting with Georgian Defense Minister Juansher Burchuladze. The agreement will be an extension of an existing program which was due to expire by the end of the year, and will serve as the focal point for defence cooperation between the US and Georgia.
The unveiled program is aimed at making drastic bureaucratic reforms in the defence relationship, with a particular focus on training Georgian armoured brigades with engineering capabilities. Juansher Burchuladze said that Georgia intends to make progress in reforming the country’s defence sector by strengthening capabilities for “effective deterrence and defense,” and “fostering interoperability with NATO nations.” The agreement comes after the Biden administration approved a sale of Javelin anti-tank missiles and launchers to Georgia worth $30 million in August.
The six-year extension of Washington’s military support brings Georgia’s relationship with the United States to a new level of collaboration and cooperation, and is directly aimed at continually deterring Russia. Austin will also meet with Ukrainian officials in Kyiv and Romanian officials in Bucharest this week, as he sets off on a tour of the Black Sea to reaffirm Washington’s support to allies, with Moscow keeping a close eye on developments. The Caucasus and Black Sea regions hold strategic value for Moscow as corridors for the transit of goods, energy, and telecommunications to the Mediterranean.
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Russia Severs Ties with NATO
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has announced that Russia is suspending its permanent mission to NATO. Following NATO announcements earlier this month which cut the overall size of the Russian mission in half, Russia has responded by shutting down its offices and recalling all its staff. On top of that, Russia is also closing the NATO Information Office and the NATO Military Liaison Mission on November 1, both of which are based in Moscow. The closure of NATO offices marks a new low in the relationship between Russia and NATO institutions.
Lavrov justified the closure by pointing out that NATO is not interested in “any kind of equal dialogue or joint work.” The Russian Foreign Minister went on to say that Moscow no longer sees any positive change in the relationship ding that “in the foreseeable future.” NATO suspended cooperation with Russia in 2014, after it annexed the Crimean Peninsula, but channels such as the Russian Permanent Mission to NATO always remained open for high-level meetings or military-to-military cooperation. Now, with dialogue through the NATO-Russia Council sporadic at best, the room for error grows in an already tense relationship.
While ties have been strained for years, platforms such as Russia’s Permanent Mission to NATO were effective tools for managing crises and minimising misperceptions. But as the proposed November 1 deadline approaches, the risk of conflict increases because the channels which once enabled dialogue between Moscow and political leaders of NATO member states are now quickly closing. As relations deterioriate, both Moscow and NATO continue to repeatedly voice concerns over the deployment of forces, each designating the other a security threat.
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