A U.S. warship arrived on Thursday in Georgia's port of Batumi, the U.S. embassy said, sending a message of support to NATO allies amid the spiraling crisis in neighboring Ukraine.

The USS Taylor's "presence in Georgia reaffirms the United States' commitment to strengthening ties with NATO allies and partners like Georgia, while working toward mutual goals of promoting peace and stability in the region," the embassy said in a statement.

The United States on Wednesday promised to keep up military cooperation with Georgia, a former Soviet state that views the escalating crisis in Ukraine with deep concern.

During a meeting with his Georgian counterpart Irakli Alasania, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel "reaffirmed the importance of the U.S. partnership with Georgia, and pledged to continue our strong defense cooperation," Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said.

Russia has freed three Georgian spies who were arrested after the 2008 war, a Georgian official said Tuesday, signaling a nascent thaw between the arch-foes.

"Three people convicted in Russia as Georgian intelligence agents were freed recently," deputy foreign minister David Zalkaliani told a news conference, but declined to give further details.

Russia on Wednesday accused NATO of succumbing to "Cold War" instincts after the alliance suspended all cooperation with Moscow over the Crimea crisis.

"Basic instincts of Cold War have awoken in NATO, affecting rhetoric accordingly," the official Twitter page of Russia's mission to NATO quoted envoy Alexander Grushko as saying.

Nervous over Russia's recent assertive behavior in Ukraine, Georgia on Wednesday sought a fresh pledge from Moscow that it would not use force to resolve their simmering territorial conflict.

"Georgia remains committed to its non-use of force pledge unilaterally taken in 2010," said chief negotiator David Zalkaliani after the latest round of internationally-brokered peace talks in Geneva.

The United States on Sunday expressed concerns over Georgia's call for ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili to be questioned in a raft of criminal cases, suggesting the move smacked of political revenge.

"No one is above the law, but launching multiple simultaneous investigations involving a former president raises legitimate concerns about political retribution, particularly when legal and judicial institutions are still fragile," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a statement.

Prosecutors in Georgia on Saturday said they have summoned ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili for questioning over a raft of criminal cases.

Saakashvili has been told to appear on Thursday in connection with 10 cases, including a possible probe into the 2005 death of former prime minister and his close ally Zurab Zhvania, a statement from the prosecutor's office said.

An avalanche has killed two French and two German snowboarders in the Caucasus mountains of northern Georgia, police in the former Soviet republic said on Saturday.

The four, whose names have not been made public, died on Thursday night in the Svaneti region, Interior Ministry spokeswoman Nino Giorgobiani told Agence France Presse.

An avalanche has killed at least two people from a Franco-German mountaineering team, with two others still missing in the Caucasus mountains of northern Georgia, media reported on Friday.

The two people, whose names and nationalities have not been made public, died in heavy snow on Thursday night, the Interpress news agency said.

Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russia has sent troops into several neighboring states that it considers as its sphere of influence, including a brief 2008 war with Georgia and an ongoing deployment in the breakaway Moldovan region of Transdniestr.

Russia views these military actions as peacekeeping operations.