Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze stated that Georgia cannot be treated as a subordinate actor in international relations, emphasizing that the country is a sovereign state and seeks equal partnership with the United States.
According to Kobakhidze, any deterioration in Georgian-American relations is fully attributable to the previous U.S. administration.
“Georgia is not a school student to be given remedial tasks by anyone - Georgia is a dignified state. If anything was damaged in U.S.-Georgia relations, it was 100% damaged by the previous administration.”
He said Georgia remains open to discussing all issues related to the restoration of strategic partnership and views recent diplomatic signals with cautious optimism.
“We are ready to discuss every detail related to the restoration of the strategic partnership. What was damaged through injustice can only be fixed through a fair approach.”
Kobakhidze added that Georgia’s opposition is “discredited and weakened,” arguing that U.S. statements no longer carry political weight for them domestically.
He further emphasized that Georgia’s goal is the renewal of strategic partnership with the United States on what he described as a fair basis:
“We are approaching all messages with optimism, including those we heard during visits to Georgia. This gives us reason to believe that the strategic partnership between Georgia and the United States can be restored. The rest depends on further negotiations.”
According to the Prime Minister, the roadmap for restoring relations cannot be one-sided and must be mutually agreed.
“A roadmap cannot be unilaterally defined. We meet with American partners to agree on it together. It must be mutually agreed - how can it be offered unilaterally?”
He reiterated that Georgia’s “unilateral roadmap” is based on defending national sovereignty, dignity, democracy, and the rule of law.
“You will not see in Georgia the violation of democracy or the rule of law that some wanted. Our unilateral roadmap is to fully protect Georgia’s dignity, sovereignty, independence, the rule of law, and democracy.”
Kobakhidze concluded that Georgia remains optimistic about restoring strategic partnership with the United States, adding that further developments will determine the outcome.
