Moscow, 13 September: The delivery of weapons to Georgia by NATO countries may destabilize the situation in the whole of the Transcaucasus.

This is stated in a report by the information and press department at the Russian Foreign Ministry that came in to RIA-Novosti [news agency] on Tuesday [13 September].

Sources in the Foreign Ministry recalled that, "at the end of August, the Czech government decided to give Tbilisi some munitions for free". "And this is most certainly not the first case of the participation of NATO countries in re-arming Georgia," the report stresses.

It points out that "deliveries of armaments are being carried out against the background of a rapid increase in Georgia's military expenditure and in conditions of the gravest socioeconomic situation in the country".

"All of this may strengthen the temptation for Tbilisi to use force against Sukhumi [Abkhazia] and Tskhinvali [South Ossetia], to seriously destabilize the situation not only in Georgia, but also throughout the whole of the Transcaucasus," sources in the Russian Foreign Ministry noted.

"One should also not forget the possibility of weaponry falling into the hands of international terrorists with the consequent spread of them throughout the region and also, it is not excluded, beyond its bounds. All of this cannot but cause concern," the sources in the Russian Foreign Ministry added.