BRUSSELS, February 3 (Sputnik) — NATO is planning to hold military drills in Georgia in 2015, a source in the Alliance said on Tuesday.
"NATO will hold exercises in Georgia this year," the source said.
In September 2014, former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen announced plans to increase cooperation between the Georgian Armed Forces and NATO, as well as the possibility of joint military exercises on the territory of Georgia.
In December 2014, the Georgian parliament ratified an agreement to participate in the NATO-led Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan in 2015.
In 2008, the Alliance said that Georgia would become a NATO member, reaffirming its position in 2014 at the summit in Wales. However, current NATO regulations rule out membership for nations involved in unresolved territorial disputes. Georgia and the West consider Abkhazia and South Ossetia to be parts of Georgia, while Russia recognized them as independent states following a five-day war with Georgia in August 2008.
In November 2014, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that NATO's promise of membership to Georgia was "the most destructive" decision for EU security.
