Ruling party Sec Gen says Georgian Gov’t ready to reboot relations with United States

Kakha Kaladze, the Mayor of Tbilisi and Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Friday said the Georgian Government was ready to reboot its relations with the United States, emphasising the need to move beyond what he described as a history of “lies, threats, and slander”.

In his remarks about the recent conversation between Georgian President Mikheil Kavelashvili and US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Kaladze stressed that Georgia was not seeking conflict with any country.

“We are not picking fights or waging battles with anyone - how could we fight with America or Europe? We want the relations that were based on lies, deceit, threats, and slander to change, and for relations to start from a clean slate”, Kaladze said.

He further noted that both the Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze and the Georgian President Mikheil Kavelashvili had made several statements expressing readiness to reboot ties with Washington, with the Georgian Government expecting a reciprocal approach.

“The Prime Minister and the President have made numerous statements about this, and we have made several statements from our side as well. So, we are ready and expect relations to start from a clean slate”, he concluded.

During a press briefing in New York, Georgian President Mikheil Kavelashvili on Thursday said he had urged the United States President Donald Trump to start bilateral relations “with a clean slate”.

In his remarks, Kavelashvili noted that the US President promised him to revisit the issue of restarting relations from a clean slate.