Georgian PM says Tbilisi ready to restart US strategic partnership immediately

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Friday said that Georgia is ready to “immediately” restore its strategic partnership with the United States “from a clean slate”, calling for a reset in bilateral relations and expressing readiness to move past what he described as injustices under the previous US administration.

During his annual address to the Parliament, Kobakhidze addressed questions regarding Georgia’s foreign policy priorities, including relations with the United States and China.

“We are ready to immediately restore the strategic partnership with the United States from a clean slate, to forget all the injustices we saw under the previous administration. Our hand is extended - we are waiting for a response from the United States”, he said.

The Prime Minister rejected claims that Georgia was shifting its alignment from the United States toward China, arguing that the country’s foreign policy was not based on substitution of partners but on diversification of international relations.

“The question was raised about whether our government is replacing the United States with China. We are not talking about any replacement whatsoever. You know that the previous administration, between the presidential election and inauguration, suspended the strategic partnership with Georgia, and this status quo has remained in place”, Kobakhidze noted.

“We have made multiple statements regarding the strategic partnership with the United States and said that we are ready today to restore it - and more than that, to restore it from a clean slate. We can forget all the injustices we saw under the previous administration and start afresh, even with a concrete roadmap that would reflect the national interests of both countries”, he continued.

He also added that his government was open to developing a concrete roadmap that would reflect the interests of both countries.

“Our hand is extended, and we are waiting for a response from the United States. Based on recent trends, I will say once again that we remain optimistic about the restoration of the strategic partnership”, he concluded.