Pentagon postpones Army exercise amid diplomatic tensions with Georgia

The Pentagon on Friday “indefinitely” called off a U.S. Army exercise in the country of Georgia, which neighbors Russia, as U.S. officials review future cooperation with the country.

The training event, dubbed Noble Exercise 2024, was scheduled to run from July 25 to Aug. 6, and normally takes place at Vaziani and Camp Norio Training Areas outside the capital city of Tbilisi. The Pentagon said the Georgian government has spread misinformation that the United States and other allies had pressured the country to open a second front on its border with Russia.

Officials in Georgia also accused U.S. officials of attempting two coups against the country’s ruling party.

“The United States government has determined that this is an inappropriate time to hold a large-scale military exercise in Georgia,” the Pentagon said in a statement.

In 2022 during a military exercise in Georgia, some 2,400 service members from the United States and 19 other nations participated. This year, a combination of approximately 3,000 U.S. and allied troops were scheduled to participate in the drills, U.S. Army Europe and Africa spokesman Terry Welch told Military Times in an email.

On May 30, the U.S. government announced a “comprehensive” review of its relationship with the small country in the South Caucasus.

The change of plans came as Georgia faced accusations that the country is trending toward authoritarianism and growing its relationship with Russia.

The country’s parliament passed a controversial “foreign agents” bill into law, overriding the president’s veto of the legislation. The legislation, which critics say mimics a similar law in Russia, requires media and other non-governmental organizations that receive more than 20% of their funding from outside the country to register as a foreign agent, according to the Associated Press .

Critics said the legislation would impact Tbilisi’s efforts to join NATO and integrate with the European Union.

In April 2008, then-President George Bush tried to rally members of NATO to allow both Georgia and Ukraine to join the alliance at NATO’s yearly summit. Other members of the alliance, however, rejected the proposition.

While Noble Exercise 2024 has been postponed, the Pentagon said in the statement it looks forward to working with allies in the Agile Spirit 2025 military exercise, which traditionally takes place in both Turkey and Georgia.

Units from V Corps, as well as the 21st Theater Sustainment Command, the 4th Security Forces Assistance Brigade, Georgia Army National Guard, and the Navy’s Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 11, were all slated to participate.

Zamone “Z” Perez is a reporter at Military Times. He previously worked at Foreign Policy and Ufahamu Africa. He is a graduate of Northwestern University, where he researched international ethics and atrocity prevention in his thesis. He can be found on Twitter @zamoneperez.

周五，五角大楼“无限期”取消了美国陆军在俄罗斯邻国格鲁吉亚举行的演习，美国官员正在重新评估未来与该国的合作。

此次名为“高贵演习2024”的联合军事演习原定于7月25日至8月6日举行，通常在首都第比利斯郊外的瓦兹亚尼和诺里奥营地训练区进行。五角大楼表示，格鲁吉亚政府散布虚假信息，声称美国和其他盟国曾向格鲁吉亚施压，要求其在与俄罗斯接壤的边境开辟第二战场。

格鲁吉亚官员还指责美国官员企图发动两次政变推翻该国执政党。

“美国政府认为，目前在格鲁吉亚举行大规模军事演习并不合适，”五角大楼在一份声明中表示。

2022年，在格鲁吉亚举行的一次军事演习中，约有2400名来自美国和其他19个国家的军人参加。美国陆军欧洲和非洲司令部发言人特里·韦尔奇在给《军事时报》的电子邮件中表示，今年预计将有约3000名美国及其盟国的士兵参加演习。

5月30日，美国政府宣布对其与南高加索小国的关系进行“全面”审查。

计划的改变正值格鲁吉亚面临指责，称该国正走向威权主义，并加强与俄罗斯的关系之际。

该国议会通过了一项备受争议的“外国代理人”法案，推翻了总统的否决。据美联社报道，该法案要求媒体和其他非政府组织，如果其超过20%的资金来自国外，则必须注册为外国代理人。批评人士称，该法案与俄罗斯的类似法律如出一辙。

批评人士表示，该立法将影响第比利斯加入北约和融入欧盟的努力。

2008年4月，时任美国总统乔治·布什试图在北约年度峰会上争取北约成员国允许格鲁吉亚和乌克兰加入北约。然而，其他一些北约成员国拒绝了这一提议。

虽然“高贵演习 2024”已被推迟，但五角大楼在声明中表示，期待与盟友在“敏捷精神 2025”军事演习中合作，该演习传统上在土耳其和格鲁吉亚举行。

来自第五军、第21战区保障司令部、第4安全部队援助旅、佐治亚州陆军国民警卫队和海军第11机动建筑营的部队都计划参加。

扎莫内·“Z”·佩雷斯是《军事时报》的记者。他曾就职于《外交政策》和《乌法哈姆非洲》。他毕业于西北大学，毕业论文研究国际伦理和暴行预防。他的推特账号是@zamoneperez。