U.S. troops will not be deployed in Georgia, the country’s President, Mikhail Saakashvili, told a news conference at Itar-Tass headquarters Friday.

“There will be no U.S. troops in Georgia, since we’re successfully building our own armed forces,” said he.

Mikhail Saakashvili told a news conference at Itar-Tass headquarters he has a high opinion about Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and pins much hope on him in what concerns the solution of bilateral and multilateral issues.

Relations between Georgia and Russia are evidencing a genuine thaw, said Georgian President.

“Following our meeting with President Vladimir Putin in February, relations between our two countries have seen a thaw,” said he. “We’ve made noticeable progress in a number of important aspects of our relations”.

“Over that period of time, we managed to organize joint patrolling of our common border, open new prospects for bilateral trade, and establish cooperation in settling the situation in Adzharia,” Saakashvili said.

“There is an evident positive tendency in our relations,” he indicated.