BRUSSELS (AFP)--Russia informed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Thursday that it is halting military cooperation, an Alliance spokeswoman said.
"We have received the notification from the Russians though military channels and they say that they have decided to halt international military cooperation events between Russia and NATO countries until further instruction," spokeswoman Carmen Romero said from the NATO headquarters in Brussels. "We take note of the Russian decision."
The U.S. said it was "unfortunate" that Russia was halting military cooperation with NATO.
The NATO spokeswoman recalled NATO Secretary General Jaap de hoop Scheffer had already said it "cannot be business as usual with Russia" as long as Moscow keeps its troops in Georgia.
Scheffer told reporters after a meeting of NATO foreign ministers Tuesday that NATO-Russia Council meetings would be placed on hold until Russia adheres to the terms an agreed ceasefire deal with Georgia requiring both sides to move troops back to their positions before Georgia launched an offensive on the separatist region of South Ossetia.
"We...cannot continue with business as usual...as long as Russia does not commit to the principles upon which we agreed to base our relationship," he said then.
The Russian navy has already announced it was canceling its participation in naval maneuvers planned in the Baltic Sea as part of its partnership with NATO, and said it was currently "not considered possible" to host the U.S. naval frigate Ford.
Georgia on August 8 launched a military offensive against pro-Russian breakaway South Ossetia - which unilaterally declared its independence after the fall of the Soviet Union - in order to regain control.
The Georgian operation failed after Moscow intervened, sending troops, tanks and warplanes into South Ossetia to defend Russian citizens in the breakaway republic.