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The US calls for NATO meeting on Georgia

13 August 2008 16:00 (UTC +04:00)

Washingtonâ€“APA. The United States on Wednesday called on NATO to hold an extraordinary meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels next week to discuss the crisis in Georgia, a NATO spokeswoman said.
"Washington this morning asked the organisation to hold a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting, and consultations are underway to organise one at the beginning of next week," spokeswoman Carmen Romero said, APA reports quoting RIA Novosti
Meanwhile the United States announced it was cancelling joint military exercises with Russia, in its first concrete response to the armed conflict in Georgia, as it considered a range of options to respond to the aggression.
"In the wake of this conflict, there is no way that we can proceed with this joint exercise at this time," said a senior US defence official in Washington, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
NATO nations on Tuesday condemned Russia’s "excessive, disproportionate use of force," at an ambassadorial-level meeting in Brussels.
The Alliance’s Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told reporters then that the Alliance had not backed away from its position that Georgia should one day join the alliance.
"Georgia is a respected partner and friend and one day Georgia will join NATO," he said.