A U.S. frigate has arrived in Georgia"s...

USS John L. Hall, an Oliver Perry class guided missile frigate, docked on Wednesday in the port of Poti, some 50 km (31 miles) from the border with the former Georgian republic of Abkhazia.

The frigate will visit Batumi, another Georgian port on the Black Sea coast, on April 16 and leave Georgia"s territorial waters on April 19.

During the visit, John L. Hall"s crew will conduct multiple training sessions with the Georgian Coast Guard including first aid, damage control, search and rescue (SAR), rescue and assistance (R&A), and visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) tactics.

Georgia, which is actively seeking NATO membership, signed in January last year a strategic partnership treaty with the United States, which has long provided economic and military support for Tbilisi, including training for its troops. The John L. Hall took part in similar exercises with the Georgian Coast Guard in March.

President Mikheil Saakashvili pledged to build new and

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