Trump conveyed demands to Georgia for a reset of relations

Wyatt Telke, Senior Adviser to the U.S. Department of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, and Robin Dunnigan, U.S. Ambassador to Georgia, met with Georgian Foreign Minister Maka Bochorishvili. At the same time, the Georgian and American sides covered the negotiations in different ways.

So, according to Bochorishvili, they discussed the prospects for the development of bilateral relations and regional processes. “It was noted that Georgia is an important partner of the United States. The Foreign Minister once again stressed the readiness of the Georgian side to renew its strategic partnership with the United States. The parties also discussed the existing security challenges both in the region and in the world. Special attention was paid to the important role of Georgia in ensuring peace and stability in the region,” the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic said.

In turn, the US Embassy reported that Telke once again reminded Tbilisi of what steps it could take to reset relations with Washington. “Today, Ambassador Dunnigan and Senior Adviser Telke met with Foreign Minister Bochorishvili to discuss U.S.-Georgia relations. The United States continues to review its approach to Georgia to advance American interests. The United States has made it clear what steps the Georgian government can take to demonstrate the seriousness of its intentions to improve relations with the United States,” the diplomatic mission said in a statement.

It should be recalled that relations between the authorities of both Georgia and the United States deteriorated sharply after the start of the conflict. The Georgian Dream government has accused its Western partners of forcing a confrontation with Russia. After that, Tbilisi passed a law on foreign agents, which the opposition and its foreign supporters called “Russian.” The authorities have also imposed restrictions on the media and banned propaganda of sexual minorities. But the turning point was the parliamentary elections, following which the Georgian Dream declared victory, but the opposition did not recognize this and renounced its parliamentary mandates. After that, the United States officially suspended its strategic partnership with Georgia.

When Donald Trump, known for his conservative views and attempts to reconcile with Russia, became president of the United States, the leadership of the Georgian Dream decided that this was a great opportunity to reset bilateral relations. But instead, the House of Representatives supported the “Friendship Act”, which opens up new opportunities for sanctions pressure on Tbilisi, and the head of the State Department, Marco Rubio, called the government of the “Georgian Dream” anti-American.

Nevertheless, the United States under Trump does not exert the same pressure on Georgia as under his predecessor Joe Biden. Rather, Washington has begun to pay less attention to it than a year ago, but this is not what the Georgian authorities and the opposition expected. As a result, pro-government and critical media outlets began to leak materials showing disappointment and even disdain for their American colleagues.

For example, the Rustavi 2 TV channel published excerpts from an article by philosopher Zaza Shatirishvili, who accused the Trump administration of supporting sexual minorities in order to turn Americans into “animals” serving the ruling regime. Former Georgian Economy Minister during the reign of Mikhail Saakashvili, Giorgi Arveladze, called US National Security Adviser Tulsi Gabbard a KGB agent. “She has KGB written all over her face. It’s a shame for the United States that people like her are in power!” said Arveladze, who did not like the American’s warning about the threat of nuclear war.

Political analyst Gia Abashidze told NG that the United States is currently focused on economic cooperation with Georgia. “Telke oversees the trade and economic relations of the United States with the countries of Europe and Eurasia. Earlier, he visited Baku, where he talked with representatives of the SOCAR oil company. Moreover, he was interested in the prosperity not only of Azerbaijan, but of the entire South Caucasus, which should become a global trade crossroads. Now he has come to Georgia, which is an important element of this project. So far, the launch of the crossroads is hampered by various armed conflicts, but they will end sooner or later – everyone is interested in this,” Abashidze said.

According to the expert, Georgian Dream is ready to cooperate with the United States, but only on condition that they do not interfere in its internal politics. As an example, he cited relations with China, which doesn’t care at all what happens in Tbilisi. If Washington does not like this approach, the Georgian authorities will continue to pursue a multi-vector policy in which the loss of one country cannot lead to any irreparable consequences. “But now we see small but good signals from the United States,” Abashidze concluded.