U.S. does not have an arms embargo on Georgia, U.S. Assistant Secretary Philip Gordon told a special briefing.

“We are pursuing security cooperation with Georgia. Georgia is making a very significant contribution in Afghanistan, which we value. Georgia is a sovereign, independent country. We’ve said that all sovereign, independent countries in Europe and elsewhere have the right to self-defense and to seek the alliances of their choosing without a third party having a veto over it,” he stated.

Philip Gordon did not comment on possible selling of M4 rifles to Georgia by U.S. “We have been focused, in the last couple of years, in reducing tensions, trying to get more transparency, trying to get the Russians to, in the first place, withdraw their forces to where they were before the conflict; in the second place, to respect Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and not have any troops in Georgia at all,” he added.