Georgia is content because NATO vessels have arrived and a US destroyer has cast anchor at the Batumi port. President Saakashvili inspired by the support told The New York Times today that he would strive with all his might to unite Abkhazia and South Ossetia under the Georgian flag.
Supportive
NATO military vessels are arriving to the Black Sea. As of midday on Monday, there were nine of them there. They are carrying humanitarian aid, food, child nutrition, cots, and blankets. Apart from that, they are military vessels equipped with torpedo launchers and other materiel. Besides, there are Tomahawk anti-ship missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. There are also vertical launch ASROC missiles and naval Standard class missiles. The radars of the vessels are capable of monitoring at the range of 400 km.
US coast guard cutter Dallas entered the Black Sea today. The cutter is equipped with artillery, machineguns, and a helicopter.
According to Russia’s General Staff, four Turkish military vessels are in the Black Sea as well as military ships from Spain, Germany, and Poland. US sixth fleet flagship Mount Whitney is expected to arrive to Georgia soon.
Black Sea seems to have turned into the main area of a face-off between Russia and NATO. Russia does not like the presence of the military fleet of the alliance where it does not belong. They do not like, that Russia’s ships are watching the water area.
We See Them, They See Us
So far, the actions of the NATO ships have answered international norms, the Russian military says. The situation is highly explosive; they are combatant ships carrying missiles and combat helicopters.
Russia’s vessels are patrolling the coastline off Abkhazia but not the Poti port, the only port capable of receiving military cargo in the area. However, Russia’s ships are watching not only the port but also the entire Black Sea area.
NATO explains the presence of its vessels by the exercises that were planned more than a year ago. The Russian side sees it as another proof that the intervention was planned as far back as a year ago. The absence of a notification of the exercises is another proof of NATO’s involvement.
“NATO should be interested in cooperation with us, not Russia. If they do not want to share the cooperation, nothing terrible will happen to us. We will make any decision including that of ceasing the relationship completely,” President Medvedev stated today. “When we are being surrounded by the bases, we do not like it,” he added.
Evgeniya Novikova
Photo: Reuters
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