BATUMI, Georgia - A U.S. warship arrived Nov. 22 in the Georgian port of Batumi for a four-day visit, highlighting continued U.S. naval operations in Georgia's Black Sea waters that have angered Russia.
The crew of the Barry, an Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyer, was greeted by local officials and Georgian military representatives at the port.
The U.S. embassy in Tbilisi said in a statement that the crew members would take part in "a social and a community relations project where members of the crew will participate in a beautification project of the city."
On Nov. 24, the ship will host a Thanksgiving dinner for local officials and residents, the statement said. It will leave Batumi and travel to Georgia's Black Sea port of Poti on Nov. 26.
U.S. warships, including the flagship of the U.S. Sixth Fleet, delivered humanitarian aid to Georgia after the Caucasus nation fought a brief war with Russia in August.
Moscow criticized the decision to send the sophisticated warships, saying it might contravene international conventions and that the ships were unsuited for aid missions.
Russia sent troops into Georgia on Aug. 8 to repel a Georgian military attempt to retake the Moscow-backed rebel region of South Ossetia.
Russian forces occupied swaths of the country but later withdrew to within South Ossetia and another rebel region, Abkhazia, which Moscow recognized as independent states.
Source > Defensa | nov 22
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