We strongly support the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia, said the NATO Secretary General ahead of the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union with Defence Ministers.

Journalist: Secretary General, how do you estimate the intention of Russia to relocate a navy military base to occupied Abkhazia? Also, you know that one of our citizens was killed. So, how do you estimate the situation?

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg: We strongly support the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia. And of course, we don’t accept that these breakaway territories can be used by Russia to establish military bases. This just once again violates the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia and it demonstrates how far Russia is willing to go to achieve their military goals in Ukraine, but also that, actually, they have been pushed on the defensive because the Ukrainians have actually been successful in attacking naval facilities in Crimea and, therefore, Russia is looking into alternatives, demonstrating actually the achievements that the Ukrainians have made in attacking the Russian Navy.