NATO assists Georgia in defense planning

NATO is helping Georgia with the development of its defense capabilities, but is not going to supply weapons to the country, said NATO spokesman James Appathurai on Wednesday.

A team from NATO’s Defense Planning Division has been to Georgia to assess Georgia’s requirements in defense planning, said the spokesman, adding that the trip was long planned in the context of NATO’s Partnership for Peace program with Georgia.

`NATO will not be, as an organization, supplying weapons or arms to Georgia. What NATO can do and what NATO is doing is assisting the Georgians in defining their own defense capabilities,` said Appathurai.

Individual nations might provide weapons to Georgia, he said.

He said NATO will also help Georgia build up capabilities to see what is going on in its air space.