Georgian PM: official from Trump-shut organisation urged Georgia to join war in Ukraine, told me twice - “You are hitting a brick wall”

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Wednesday claimed that the Global War Party was using Georgia’s EU membership aspirations as a tool for political pressure.

In his interview with Imedi TV, Kobakhidze recalled that a senior official from one of the organisations shut down by the United States President Donald Trump told him that the Georgian Government had to follow the directives, in reference to joining the ongoing war in Ukraine.

“For a specific force, that is, for the Global War Party, everything related to the European Union is a tool of blackmail and nothing more. This was the case with the candidate status and this was the case with the opening of accession talks, and that is why we made that decision”, the PM said in reference to his Government’s decision not to put the EU accession talks on the agenda until 2028.

“A high-ranking official from an organisation that was shut down by the Trump administration visited Georgia. During our meeting, he stated that we had to follow the messages being conveyed to us by a specific individual - the discussion was about involving Georgia in the war. He told me something like this: “Don't think that these are just his messages, these are our collective messages”. I responded that this would mean the destruction of our country, and we could never agree to it. In response, he repeated the same phrase twice: “You are hitting a brick wall”, the Prime Minister said.

“That was his message - he repeated it twice, which meant that this was the main message he had brought. This was their attitude. At that moment, this person essentially threatened us on behalf of the deep state, saying they would see it through to the end and bring back the collective United National Movement to power. That Government would then do exactly what was being demanded of us -meaning they would drag the country into war”, he noted.

The Prime Minister reiterated his Government's commitment to safeguarding Georgia’s national interests despite external pressures, emphasising that the country would not be dragged into geopolitical conflicts.