MORE FACTS ON U.S.-GEORGIAN MILITARY COOPERATION REVEALED.

Returning from a week-long U.S. visit, Georgian Defense Minister Vardiko Nadibaidze announced yesterday that the Pentagon has agreed to hand over fourteen helicopters to Georgia, deliver two warships within two months, train Georgian naval crews, assist in the organization of Georgia’s first-ever naval maneuvers this year, and finance the training of Georgia’s first peacekeeping battalion. (Russian agencies, March 31)

These steps are additional to the cooperation programs announced during Nadibaidze’s stay in Washington last week. (See Monitor, March 26) The naval maneuvers will involve small-tonnage warships and coastal guard craft donated by several NATO countries and Ukraine.

Russian Border Troops to Stay Put in Post-War Tajikistan.