Georgia not seeking to host NATO military infrastructure - Abasidze
TBILISI. Feb 19 (Interfax) - NATO's military infrastructure will not be deployed in the territory of Georgia as part of bilateral cooperation, Zurab Abashidze, the Georgian prime minister's special representative for relations with Russia, told reporters on Thursday.
When commenting on Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's remarks that Russia would be ready to take appropriate measures if NATO took practical steps to "drag" Georgia into the alliance, Abashidze said that "Georgia is an independent country, which has every right to cooperate with any international organization, including NATO."
"But this cooperation is in no way aimed at seeking the deployment of NATO's military infrastructure in Georgia," he said.
"Brussels, Moscow and Tbilisi know very well that Georgia's accession to NATO is not on the agenda for today or tomorrow," he said.
Georgia will not take any steps able to disrupt regional security, the Georgian official said.
Abashidze, however, believes that the "occupation" of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and the "placement of Russian forces and military infrastructure there" pose a threat to the region's security.
Prior to the Ukrainian crisis, Russia itself had actively cooperated with NATO as part of the Partnership for Peace program, he said.
Abashidze also said that he would not discuss Lavrov's latest statement at an upcoming meeting with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin.