Georgia seeks renewal of strategic partnership with US, says Georgian Prime Minister

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Wednesday said his Government aimed to renew its strategic partnership with the United States through a specific roadmap, stressing the importance of seeing tangible steps from the new US administration.

Commenting on the delay in Washington’s response, the Prime Minister expressed surprise given the strong alignment of values between the two administrations.

“As soon as the new US administration took office, we made very public statements expressing our desire to renew the strategic partnership with a specific roadmap. We repeated this several times. However, a response has been delayed, which is surprising given the full alignment of values. Everything announced by the new US administration aligns with our policies, values, and objectives. We are patiently waiting to see which influence will prevail - the State Department’s or that of the new administration”, Kobakhidze said in an interview with the Georgian Public Broadcaster.

He further highlighted that certain positive gestures had already been made, citing the release of Robin Dunnigan, the former US Ambassador to Georgia, and the agreement on the appointment of Georgia’s Ambassador as a key signal.

“This was a very good gesture. What matters now is that the process continues. On our side, there is full readiness. We need to see specific reciprocal steps from the new administration based on our proposals. Nothing more can be said at this point - we want to renew the strategic partnership from a clean slate. Everything from the past - the promotion of revolutions, USAID, NED, all that misfortune - will be left behind. We are ready to discuss any issue, to reflect both US and Georgian interests in a new agreement. The main thing is to see concrete steps from their side”, he concluded.