KYIV. May 21 (Interfax-AVN) - Moscow's fears concerning a "forceful" growth of Ukrainian military hardware shipments to the Caucasus, including to Georgia, are overly exaggerated, a source in Kyiv military circles claimed.
"The Russian side's worries concerning the possible forceful expansion of arms shipments to Georgia against the backdrop of unsettled internal conflicts in the country are easy to understand. But fears about Ukraine's alleged role in tensions in the Caucasus region are definitely baseless," an informed source in military circles told Interfax while commenting on reports about an allegedly planned deal to supply a few batches of Ukrainian T-72 tanks to Tbilisi.
"The level of our military-technical cooperation definitely has a potential for development," he said, adding, "Its current content is reflected in Ukraine's official reports to international organizations on the transfer of armaments."
Informed sources earlier told Interfax that the Georgian Defense Ministry had negotiated the shipment of 20 tanks to Georgia with the state arms trader Ukrspetsexport.