Peter Pace, the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was due to meet President Mikhail Saakashvili amid Georgia's efforts to join the US-led NATO alliance despite displeasure from its much larger neighbor Russia.

"We are going to discuss a new US program called Operation Keeping Stability," Georgian Chiefs of Staff General Georgy Kapanadze told AFP.

Kapanadze said the program to train 3,000 Georgian solders would begin in January and cost Washington 32 million dollars.

Pace refused to comment on the program's details on his arrival to the Georgian capital, saying final negotiations were still underway.

Russia has expressed concern over the US presence in Georgia, whose new leader has tense relations with Moscow and is trying to win independence from Kremlin dominance.

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