Despite the recent thaw in NATO-Russian relations, the Kremlin's latest move to project military force is raising some alarms.

Russia and the breakaway state of Abkhazia announced yesterday they had concluded a deal that would allow Russia establish an air and naval bases in the republic. Abkhazia – a once-lovely seaside resort (pictured here) that was trashed during a civil war in the early 1990s – won recognition from Russia as an independent state after the war in South Ossetia this summer. (Besides Russia, only Nicaragua has recognized Abkhazia's independence.)

The Financial Times summarizes the anxiety over Moscow's latest move. "Nato members are concerned at the decision because they see it is an important step in allowing Russia to project its military strength beyond its borders," the paper dryly notes. "They also believe the move deepens the violation of Georgian sovereignty after Russia invaded Georgia last August and declared Abkhazia and South Ossetia independent territories."

Some other factors are at work here. Russia has another Black Sea base at Sevastopol, which belongs to Ukraine. The lease for that base on the Crimean peninsula, however, runs out in 2017. Building an airbase in Abkhazia could also be a raised middle finger at the United

States, which runs an airbase in Kyrgyzstan (which doesn't share a border with Russia, but which the Kremlin considers to be part of its sphere of influence).

Complicated enough? Givi Targamadze, the head of Georgia's parliamentary committee on defense and national security, told Reuters the move proved Russia's expansionist ambitions. "It demonstrates that

Russia's real goal was never the protection of its so-called citizens in South Ossetia or Abkhazia, but to use these territories for new military bases," he said.

And just in case DANGER ROOM readers forgot, the United States and Georgia signed a strategic pact earlier this month.

[PHOTO: Nathan Hodge]

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