Russia accuses NATO nations of arms sales to Georgia

PORTOROZ, Slovenia, Sep 29 (Reuters) Tensions over Georgia boiled over at NATO-Russia talks today as Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov accused some alliance nations of illicitly selling weapons to the ex-Soviet country.

''Some members of NATO -- shall we call them the younger generation? -- are supplying Georgia with arms and ammunition of Soviet production,'' Ivanov told a news briefing after the talks in the Slovenian coastal resort of Portoroz.

Ivanov did not name the countries, but he was referring to some of the seven eastern European nations that joined NATO in 2004. He said Soviet arms exports to the region were made under the strict understanding they would not get into the hands of third parties. ''It means these countries are breaching world practice,'' he said.

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