US destroyer anchors off Georgia for exercises

A U.S. guided missile destroyer dropped anchor Tuesday in Georgia's Black Sea waters ahead of joint naval exercises seen as a show of American support for the former Soviet nation crushed in last year's war with Russia.

The exercises came one day after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's first visit to South Ossetia, a breakaway Georgian region that Russia recognized as independent in the conflict's aftermath.

Both events reflect how far apart Russia and the United States remain over Washington's support for the former Soviet nation of Georgia, despite last week's cordial Moscow summit between Medvedev and President Barack Obama.

The USS Stout harbored off Batumi, where its commander, Mark J. Oberley, was welcomed ashore with Georgian music and wine.

"This visit and the combined training demonstrate the U.S. and Georgian commitment to work together, to cooperate and maintain maritime security," Oberley said.

The naval exercises, to begin Wednesday, are to be held in Georgia's territorial waters between the ports of Batumi and Poti, not far from the coast of the Moscow-supported breakaway region of Abkhazia. More

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