US to send $100M worth of weapons to Georgia – intelligence

9 Nov, 2009 10:38 / Updated 14 years ago

The US has offered to sell Georgia up to $100 million worth of weapons, which would include, among others, a sophisticated air defense system, small arms and ammunition, according to Russian security services

Russia's General Staff says the offer was made by a private arms manufacturer after Tbilisi asked Washington for its military assistance, Itar-Tass news agency reports.

Russia has repeatedly criticized the US, Israel and other countries for supplying weapons to Georgia, and after last year's war in South Ossetia called for an embargo on all arms deals with Tbilisi.

The head of the General Staff, Aleksandr Shlyakhturov, told the agency that, according to the information at their disposal, “Georgia, is still getting military assistance from NATO members, Israel and Ukraine.”

He added that NATO countries mainly supply Georgia with small arms and ammunition, while the US leads training of the staff, Israel provides it with unmanned aircrafts, and Ukraine with tanks and air defense systems.