US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin begins his visit to Europe this week in Georgia, where he arrived on October 18.
"The United States is committed to helping Georgia strengthen its defences and promote Euro-Atlantic integration, and I look forward to meeting here," Austin tweeted.
During his visit to Georgia, the head of the Pentagon will meet with Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Defence Minister Juansher Burchuladze.
The meetings will discuss issues of cooperation between the United States and Georgia, global security, and regional issues.
After Georgia Austin will visit Ukraine and Romania and will conclude his visit to Europe by participating in the NATO ministerial in Brussels.
Relations between Georgia and the United States continue to be very close and encompass multiple areas of bilateral cooperation. As one of the key U.S. allies in Eastern Europe, Georgia was the third-largest troop contributor in the Iraq War. The United States is actively assisting Georgia in strengthening its state institutions in face of increasing pressure from its northern neighbour Russia and has provided the country with financial assistance in excess of 3 billion dollars since 1991. Since 2009, Georgian–American relations have been streamlined by the U.S.–Georgia Charter on Strategic Partnership, which created four bilateral working groups on priority areas of democracy; defence and security; economic, trade, energy issues; and people-to-people and cultural exchanges.
The United States works closely with Georgia to promote mutual security, counterterrorism interests, and provides Georgia with bilateral security assistance, including English-language and military professional training, through the International Military Education and Training (IMET) program.
Much like its western allies, the United States condemned Russia's intrusion into Georgia's sovereign territory and while it abstained from direct military action, Washington used military aircraft and naval forces to deliver aid to Georgia to signal its strong support. Following the war, at the advice of then-Vice President Biden, the U.S. appropriated one billion dollars to help Georgia rebuild.
