TBILISI. Dec 6 (Interfax) - The United States will continue helping Georgia boost its security and defense, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Michael Carpenter told a press conference held jointly with Georgian Defense Minister Levan Izoria in Tbilisi on Tuesday.
Georgia is one of the most reliable U.S. partners in the region, the Pentagon official said. The U.S. will further deepen defense cooperation thanks to the NATO training center opened in Georgia, where further joint training will be provided, Carpenter said. The U.S. is involved in the implementation of action plans approved for Georgia at NATO summits in Wales and in Warsaw, but it also actively cooperates with Georgia bilaterally, and this cooperation will continue in the future, the Pentagon official said.
The U.S. will also attempt to strengthen Georgia's territorial defensive capabilities as envisaged by the NATO package, he added.
He did not reveal the size of U.S. military aid for Georgia, saying that Georgia is indeed on the list of countries that will receive aid from Pentagon in 2017.
Earlier on Tuesday Izoria and Carpenter met and signed a framework agreement on defense and security in 2016-2019 between the Georgian Defense Ministry and the U.S. Department of Defense.
"This framework agreement involves cooperation in improving the military training of Georgian troops. Thanks to this agreement we will also take our troops' compatibility with NATO standards to a higher level," Izoria said.