Georgia Ready to Rekindle Strategic Partnership with US – PM

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze stated that his government is ready to restore strategic relations with the United States at any moment, bringing an end to the hiatus under the Biden administration.

“We are ready to resume our strategic partnership at any time. Moreover, we are prepared to do this with a clean slate, guided by a concrete roadmap,” Kobakhidze said, The Caspian Post reports, citing Georgian media.

He also pledged that Georgia is ready to sign a document starting EU accession talks once Brussels presents it. “Once they put the document on the table, we will sign it immediately, but we have yet to hear any response,” he added.

Relations with the US have been strained since the Biden administration imposed sanctions on Bidzina Ivanishvili, founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, and other officials over repression of pro-European protests. Strategic partnership was suspended.

Kobakhidze has reached out to President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance in an open letter. “A few weeks ago, I contacted the United States regarding Georgian-American relations, but we have not yet received a response,” he said, noting Washington’s rhetoric on the Deep State, USAID, and NED aligns with Georgia’s values.

“Our government continues to hope that your administration will successfully confront the Deep State, which will undoubtedly impact the reboot of Georgian-American relations and the restoration of strategic partnership,” he added.

The Trump administration recently granted agrément to Georgia’s new ambassador to the US, Tamar Taliashvili, who presented her credentials to President Trump on the same day former ambassador Robin Dunnigan resigned.

Kobakhidze also referred to Ivanishvili’s reported refusal to meet Dunnigan to receive a message from the Trump administration, citing “personal pressure,” which also led him to decline a meeting with US sanctions coordinator Jim O’Brien. Georgian President Mikheil Kavelashvili has also contacted Washington, but no response has been received.