South Caucasus Nations 'Looking For Ways To Deepen Relationship With NATO' U.S. Ambassador Says

As the top diplomats of 32 NATO member countries will meet today in Brussels for a celebratory gathering to discuss shared threats and challenges, the U.S. Ambassador to the Alliance told TURAN's Washington correspondent that the South Caucasus remains to be a valuable partner to the Alliance.

"In terms of whether or not it’ll come up on the margins of the ministerial, I don’t see that as a formal part of the agenda, but we’ll have to see if it comes up on the margins of our discussions over the next two days," Ambassador Julianne Smith said during a special briefing organized by the State Department's Brussels Media Hub.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg was recently in the region for "a very important trip," as the U.S diplomat put it, adding that all three countries have relationships with the Alliance.

In the case of Georgia, she recalled in 2008 the members said that both Ukraine and Georgia will join the Alliance, and "we continue to work with our friends in Georgia on the reforms needed to work towards their membership aspirations."

As for Armenia and Azerbaijan, she explained, both countries are looking for ways to deepen their relationship with NATO. "This speaks to the value of these partnerships, where not every partner is necessarily seeking membership per se, but many countries around the world find great utility in meeting with NATO Allies to discuss some of our shared security challenges, whether it’s the challenge of disinformation or cyber attacks or maritime security issues," Ambassador Smith said.

She went on to add, "There are a whole array of topics that we discuss with our partners around the globe, and for our friends in the Caucasus, it’s clear that they find real value in their partnership with the Alliance, and there’s no question in my mind that NATO Allies find value in those partnerships as well."

TURAN's correspondent also asked Ambassador Smith about Ukraine, and if there were any constraints placed upon Kyiv in how it fights back or takes the fight to Russia.

"We believe Ukraine has every right to defend its territory against this unprovoked Russian aggression," she said in response. The U.S. has already provided upwards of $44 billion U.S. of security assistance to ensure that they can do so effectively: "We’re continuing to encourage our friends in Congress to get the supplemental done so that more support can flow into the hands of Ukrainian military commanders."

In the meantime, she pushed back against Ukrainian strikes inside Russia: "... That is something that the United States is not particularly supportive of.  We are focused on Ukrainians’ right to defend its territory and to push Russians out of its territory, where the Ukrainians have had considerable success.  And again, our objective is to help them continue to see those victories on the battlefield."

The U.S. diplomat has also stressed that the NATO allies are preparing for a Russian expansion of its war on Ukraine into allied territory, though she has emphasized that such a threat is not "imminent."