Georgia concerned with Russian Black Sea military exercises

The Georgian Foreign Ministry has voiced its concern with Russia’s large-scale army exercises in the Black Sea. “The exercise is being held in the vicinity of Georgia’s sea and land border while the Russian authorities did not spread any information about the exercise’s duration and the exact location of military units involved in the maneuvers,” the Georgian Foreign Ministry said in a statement released on Friday. The Georgian Foreign Ministry noted that the exercises could not be considered as proportionate reaction to projected threats due to their scale. Georgia believes that the maneuvers are exceeding the boundaries of conventional dislocation of military units as provided for by the 2011 Vienna document on Confidence – and Security-Building. At the same time, Georgian Defense Minister Irakliy Alasaniya told journalists that Georgia did not feel a direct threat in connection with the Russian military exercises. “Although these exercises are certainly decupling our attention, Georgia does not feel any direct threat,” the Georgian defense minister emphasized.