Georgian PM says rebooting strategic partnership with US “from a clean slate” top foreign policy priority for Gov’t

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Wednesday said that rebooting the strategic partnership with the United States “from a clean slate” was a top foreign policy priority for his Government.

In his interview with the Georgian Public Broadcaster, Kobakhidze highlighted the significance of the recent meeting between the Georgian Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili and the US Ambassador Robin Dunnigan.

He noted that while the specifics of closed-door meetings were typically not disclosed, both sides expressed a strong interest in “fundamentally and qualitatively rebooting” Georgia-US relations.

“We have made numerous public statements expressing our desire to completely reboot relations, to start the strategic partnership from a clean slate, and not only to start the strategic partnership but to do so with a specific roadmap outlining specific tasks. Let's jointly define specific tasks, reflecting priorities important to both countries. This is how we envision the restoration of the strategic partnership between Georgia and the United States. I believe there is a convergence of values”, the PM said.

The Prime Minister noted that the recent statements from the new US administration was aligning with Georgia's positions on various issues, indicating a “convergence of views”.

Kobakhidze also highlighted that the meeting with the US Ambassador was initiated by the Georgian Foreign Minister and took place promptly.

“As for Georgian-American relations, there is a convergence, the main thing is to take specific steps. All this will largely depend on how much the deep state will ultimately be defeated in the US. There are still problems and the serious influence of the deep state. If the deep state can be defeated completely or qualitatively, I think that in this case nothing will stand in the way of rebooting Georgian-American relations”, Kobakhidze continued.

He further added that if there was a “mutual political will and a fair attitude” towards Georgia, the relations would be restored.

“There are many nuances that will be important for restoring relations, but the main thing is that we fundamentally agree on a mutual desire. If there is mutual political will for a healthy relationship between the countries, for a fair attitude towards Georgia, different from what we saw from the Biden administration, in that case, I think relations will be restored. We have cautious optimism, given that the deep state is still in place. Let's see how the processes unfold”, Kobakhidze concluded.