Cheney endorses Georgia’s membership into NATO

U.S. warships arrived at the Georgian port town of Poti bringing humanitarian supplies. Poti is also home to an occupying contingent of the Russian military.

Not surprisingly, Russia expressed displeasure:

“Naval ships of that class can hardly deliver a large amount of aid,” said Andrei Nesterenko, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman. “Such ships have a hold for keeping provisions for the crew and items needed for sailing. How many tonnes of aid can a ship of that type deliver?”He said that the presence of US warships could contravene international conventions governing shipping in the Black Sea, and in particular restrictions on the entry of naval ships from countries that do not share a Black Sea coastline.

The United States also has naval vessels stationed near the Georgian port of Batumi.