ST. PETERSBURG, June 13 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's defense minister said Tuesday he was concerned over large purchases of weapons by Georgia in Eastern Europe.
"It is alarming that in the last year or two Georgia has been buying great amounts of Soviet armaments from East European countries," Sergei Ivanov told journalists.
"I don't know Georgia's military budget, but this very fact causes unquestionable concern," he said, adding that ammunition, small arms and MANPADs were being sold to Georgia.
But Ivanov said the increase in Georgia's military spending did not mean that Tbilisi had decided to resolve the problem with its breakaway South Ossetia and Abkhazia regions by military means.
