Commander Marc Oberley of the U.S. guided missile destroyer USS Stout, left, and his officers, no name given, shake hands with Georgian Navy sailors, right, during a welcome ceremony for the USS Stout after anchoring in Georgia's Black Sea port of Batumi, on Tuesday, July, 14, 2009. USS Stout dropped anchor Tuesday in Georgia's Black Sea waters ahead of joint naval exercises widely seen as a show of American support for the former Soviet nation that was crushed in last year's war with Russia. (AP Photo/ Shakh Aivazov)US/Russian Tensions Rise Over Georgia -- Yahoo News/AP
BATUMI, Georgia – A U.S. warship anchored off Georgia for joint military exercises Tuesday while Russian jets pounded mock targets nearby in a sign of lingering tensions over the former Soviet nation turned U.S. ally.
The U.S. and Russian maneuvers marked a stark change in tone from meetings last week between President Barack Obama and Russia's Dmitry Medvedev, who expressed hope for repairing relations that have sunk to a post-Cold War low.
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Officer from the U.S. guided missile destroyer USS Stout, wearing white service cap, and Georgian Navy sailors, wearing black caps, salute during a welcome ceremony for the USS Stout anchoring in the Georgia's Black Sea port of Batumi, Tuesday, July, 14, 2009. USS Stout dropped anchor Tuesday in Georgia's Black Sea waters ahead of a joint naval exercises widely seen as a show of American support for the former Soviet nation that was crushed in last year's war with Russia. (AP Photo/ Shakh Aivazov)US Destroyer Anchors Off Georgia For Exercises -- Yahoo News/AP
BATUMI, Georgia – A week after a Moscow summit intended to smooth over the differences between Russia and the U.S., both countries on Tuesday engaged in displays of military might near Russia's southern border.
A U.S. warship anchored off the Black Sea coast of Georgia in preparation for joint naval maneuvers with the ex-Soviet nation, which was trounced in a war with Russia last August. Russian warplanes, meanwhile, conducted mock bombing runs in exercises just a few hundred kilometers northwest.
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Russia’s president, Dmitri A. Medvedev, with Eduard Kokoity, the president of breakaway South Ossetia, during a surprise visit on Monday. Vladimir Rodionov/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesOn Visit to Breakaway Enclave, Russian President Promises Help in Rebuilding -- New York Times
MOSCOW — The Russian president, Dmitri A. Medvedev, made a surprise visit to breakaway South Ossetia on Monday, inspecting a new Russian military base there and promising citizens that Russia would rebuild neighborhoods destroyed during last year’s brief war between Russia and Georgia.
The visit underlined the stark differences that remain between Russia and the United States after last week’s presidential meeting. The “reset” of relations has sidestepped the issue of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, breakaway Georgian territories that have been under Russian protection since the war.
During his visit to Moscow last week, President Obama reiterated his “firm belief that Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected,” saying he hoped that Russia and the United States “work through our disagreements on Georgia’s borders.”
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