TBILISI (AFP) — No US navy ships were to dock Wednesday in the Georgian port of Poti where Russian troops are still deployed, a US official said, amid irritation in Moscow over Western naval deliveries of aid.
"We are not aware of any plans for ships to go to Poti today," said an official at the US embassy in Tbilisi, who declined to be named.
The US embassy said Tuesday that a US destroyer and another ship were headed for Poti on Wednesday, but later that day said it was unable to confirm the plan.
The USS McFaul, a destroyer, arrived at the port city of Batumi on Sunday as the first of three US ships that are to carry thousands of blankets, hygiene kits, baby food and infant care supplies to Georgia.
The plan to dock the USS McFaul and another US ship -- the Dallas coast guard cutter -- in Poti had sparked fears of a stand-off as Russian troops are still patrolling the city and maintaining checkpoints outside.
Moscow says it has the right under the French-brokered deal that ended fighting between Russia and Georgia to maintain an "area of responsibility" far into Georgian territory, including in and around Poti.
Batumi, a large resort and port city to the south of Poti and close to the Turkish border, lies well outside the area where Russian troops have been operating.
The US embassy to declined not say if the original plan to send the ships to Poti had been cancelled or if there was a possibility they could dock in the next days.
Russia has responded uneasily to the presence of the US ships in the Black Sea, accusing NATO countries of using humanitarian aid as cover for a build-up of Western naval forces in the strategic waters.
"Normally battleships do not deliver aid and this is battleship diplomacy, this does not make the situation more stable," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Moscow on Tuesday.
"I hope people who deliver humanitarian aid would be choosy about how they deliver it."
Russia sent tanks and troops into Georgian territory in response to a Georgian offensive on August 7 to retake South Ossetia, a breakaway region backed by Moscow.
Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
