US State Secretary Blinken thanks Georgia for contribution to peacekeeping missions in Afghanistan
“We look forward to continuing our strategic partnership to strengthen our common interests,” the letter reads. Photo: Antony Blinken/Twitter.
Tweet 
Share
US State Secretary Antony Blinken has thanked Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani for Georgia’s contribution to peacekeeping missions in Afghanistan, the Georgian Foreign Ministry reports.
A letter of thanks says that Georgia became one of the main military contributors to Resolute Support Mission (RSM) and International Security Assistance Force missions (ISAF) in Afghanistan in 2015-2021.
Immensely grateful to @SecBlinken for the appraisal of the ????????-???????? strategic partnership, recognition of our country's role in maintaining global security, as well as expressing hope for enhancing existing excellent cooperation between our countries! pic.twitter.com/lgM164SdJw
— David Zalkaliani (@DZalkaliani) November 22, 2021
Blinken stated that the US ‘highly values the strategic partnership with Georgia’ and its leadership in the context of addressing global and regional challenges.
We look forward to continuing our strategic relationship to advance our shared interests,” the letter reads.
He also thanked Georgia for its ‘important role’ in the evacuation of more than 2,500 people from Afghanistan in August this year.
We join you [referring to Zalkaliani] and the people of Georgia in honouring and remembering the 32 Georgians who made the ultimate sacrifice and more than 300 people who were wounded defending our shared values,” Blinken says.
Zalkaliani has stated that the letter ‘is another confirmation of the irreversible partnership of the two countries.’
US State Secretary Antony J. Blinken has raised ‘Russian military aggression’ in Ukraine and Georgia during his recent phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
United States Under Secretary for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said the US is ‘enormously grateful to the huge network of countries that have provided critical assistance’ for their evacuation efforts from Afghanistan, including Georgia.
Tbilisi International Airport is being used as a way station by evacuation flights of the NATO Military Transportation Organisation, which is running daily flights to Kabul and back, the Georgian government reports. "From Tbilisi, passengers evacuated from Kabul are being transported abroad via various charter flights. Up to 2,000 individuals have been evacuated so far via Georgian territory,” said the statement.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry and the administration of the government of Georgia are working in coordination to ensure the safe return of several Georgian citizens who are now in Afghanistan, after the Taliban seized control of Kabul yesterday and crowds are trying to flee the country. The Georgian Foreign Ministry said yesterday that the Georgian citizens, who were contract employees in Afghanistan, contacted them yesterday and ‘we have instantly begun taking actions to help them.’
Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani has thanked US Secretary of State Antony Blinken for the US’s ‘firm support’ to Georgia at the meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Riga on December 1.