“Today, I’m pleased to announce that we’ve approved Georgia for the risk-assessed payment schedule so Georgia will be able to request and acquire vital military capabilities more easily”, - said Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, who hosted a visit by Georgian Defense Minister Juansher Burchuladze at the Pentagon.

“This announcement reflects the value that we place on our bilateral defense relationship and our partnership. For three decades, the United States supported Georgia"s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Georgia deepened its ties to the West and supported its path to Euro-Atlantic integration. And over that time, Georgia has made significant contributions to global security. Georgian military units have served and sacrificed alongside U.S. and NATO forces in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. Georgia was the largest per capita troop contributor to the NATO mission in Afghanistan.

We deeply appreciate Georgia’s outsized effect on security and stability in the South Caucasus and around the world and our security partnership continues to deepen.

Georgia’s participation in the contact group helps us all strengthen Ukraine’s ability to defend itself and to bolster the rules-based international border that keeps us all secure. And that"s crucial as Ukraine continues to fight bravely against Russia’s unprovoked and unjust invasion”, - Austin said.

Burchuladze added Georgia values its strategic partnership with the U.S., “which is essential for Georgia’s defense and peaceful and stable development. We treasure our partnership, our shared beliefs, values and interests, which we have been defending together over the past three decades”.