JRL NEWSWATCH: “U.S., Georgia sign military training pact amid Russian threat on the Black Sea” – Defense News

“U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Georgian counterpart on Monday signed an agreement to extend U.S.-led military training …. ahead of [Austin’s] visits to other Black Sea allies Ukraine and Romania to deliver a message of ‘unwavering’ support for their sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russian threats. Since Russia’s war with Georgia, it has had a 13-year grip on Georgia’s breakaway territories, South Ossetia and Abkhazia …. Georgia and Ukraine are NATO aspirants … Romania is a member. Amid the Russian troop presence, NATO hasn’t agreed to advance Georgia’s membership, and the west has also been pressuring Georgia to curb corruption and reverse its democratic backsliding. …”