July 25, 2025 - The South Caucasus News - SouthCaucasusNews.com

Georgia is hosting the multinational exercise Agile Spirit 2025, which officially kicked off on July 21 in Turkey and opened in Georgia today, July 25, at the NATO-Georgia Joint Training and Evaluation Center (JTEC) in Krtsanisi, and will continue until August 8. The drills will continue through August 8.

“Agile Spirit 2025 is designed to enhance readiness, interoperability, and combined operational capabilities among participating armed forces,” the Georgian Defense Ministry and the U.S. Army Europe and Africa said in their press releases.

This marks the 12th iteration of Agile Spirit hosted in Georgia. This year, the drills bring together troops from Georgia, the U.S., Turkey, Germany, Italy, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Lithuania, Ukraine, and Poland. Armenia and Japan are participating as observers.

More than 2,000 military personnel are involved in this year’s exercise, including over 800 U.S. service members.

“Agile Spirit 25 underscores the U.S. commitment to security and stability in the Black Sea region and highlights the importance of strong alliances and partnerships in addressing shared security challenges,” the U.S. side said. Launched in 2011, the biennial exercise focuses on “building capacity and increasing European leadership in European security through realistic, joint training scenarios.”

The drills in Georgia are being co-led by the West Command of the Georgian Defense Forces and the U.S. Georgia Army National Guard.

According to the Georgian Ministry of Defense, the exercise will include a command post operation, a Georgia-U.S. tactical convoy along the Senaki–Vaziani highway, combined live fire drills, joint special operations activities, and the validation of the Georgian Defense Forces’ Combat Training Center (CTC).

The exercise will take place across multiple sites: the NATO-Georgia Joint Training and Evaluation Center (JTEC) in Krtsanisi, the Vaziani Combat Training Center and fire range, Norio training area, Mukhrovani, and the 2nd Infantry Brigade in Senaki.

“Armored vehicles and air assets in the arsenal of the Georgian Defense Forces will participate in the exercise,” the Defense Ministry said, adding, “The U.S. Army combat vehicles and UH60 Black Hawk multi-mission helicopters, as well as the Puma AS332 helicopter of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Türkiye, have been deployed to Georgia to participate in the exercise.”

This year’s Agile Spirit comes as U.S.-Georgia relations continue to deteriorate. In July 2024, the U.S. Department of Defense indefinitely postponed the Noble Partner exercises, which had been held in Georgia since 2016, citing a broader review of bilateral ties.

The Pentagon later elaborated that the decision was made due to the false statements by the Georgian officials, claiming that the U.S. was trying to stir up tensions in the region.

U.S. suspended Strategic Partnership with Georgia in November 2024, amid the ruling Georgian Dream’s decision to postpone unilaterally EU accession efforts until 2028.

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