Azerbaijan: NATO Exercises Drawing to a Close

Amid demands from Moscow that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) cancel exercises planned for Georgia next month, the US ambassador to Baku, Anne Derse, has praised the progress of NATO exercises in neighboring Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan plans to take part in Georgia's May 6-June 1 NATO exercises.

Derse said that the Azerbaijan-based drills were well organized and provided a good venue for the US and Azerbaijani armed forces to share experience, the APA news agency reported.

The Regional Response 2009 military exercise, running from April 18 to April 26, was being under the auspices of the NATO Partnership for Peace program. According to the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense, the exercise includes both field and staff trainings focused on multinational peacekeeping operations.

The United States, Bulgaria, Georgia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine were participating in the exercise as participants and observers.