US State Department Spokesperson: US considers Georgia its strategic partner
He also noted Georgia’s aspirations didn’t occur “overnight” and it was impossible to realise them “over the course of a single year, even a single decade.” Photo: Reuters
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Department of State Spokesperson Ned Price said in a briefing on Tuesday the United States considered Georgia its strategic partner and was “well positioned” to encourage the country on its path of reforms.
As a strategic partner, the United States is well positioned to encourage Georgia down the path of reform, to encourage Georgia to take on some of the improvements,” Ned Price said.
He also noted Georgia’s aspirations didn’t occur “overnight” and it was impossible to realise them “over the course of a single year, even a single decade.”
Part of our task is to continue to partner with Georgia, to continue to support them down that path, to do that with resources, with guidance, with direct support in many cases. And that is an area where we will continue to cooperate closely with our Georgian partners,” the State Department Spokesperson concluded.
The strategic Georgia-United States partnership and Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic integration questions were discussed on Monday in a conversation between Ambassador of Georgia to the United States David Zalkaliani and the Counselor of the US Department of State Derek Chollet.
Derek Chollet, the Counselor of the United States Department of State, Wednesday said the US was doing “everything we can” to support Georgia, pointing out Washington was also working closely with the Georgian Government to find ways to support Ukraine in overcoming “enormous challenges.”
The United States supports Georgia’s NATO aspirations and the country is already an important partner of the alliance, Ned Price, the Spokesperson for the Department of State, said in a press briefing on Tuesday.
The United States will not recognise the results of any effort by “Russia or its proxies” to “divide sovereign Georgian territory”, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Thursday, following information on plans by Georgia’s Russian-occupied region of Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) to hold a referendum on joining Russia.
Derek Chollet, the Counselor of the United States Department of State, said on Wednesday he would discuss a “shared vision” of Georgia “fully integrated into the Euro-Atlantic family of nations” during his visit to Tbilisi, which started today.
The United States-Georgia Strategic partnership and the difficult security environment in the Black Sea region amid the Russian aggression in Ukraine were discussed on Thursday in a meeting between the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia Lasha Darsalia and Derek Chollet, the Counselor of the US Department of State.
Ned Price, the United States Department of State Spokesperson, said in a briefing on Tuesday the US “strongly supports" the European aspirations of Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova.
David Zalkaliani, the Georgian Ambassador to the United States, on Wednesday expressed gratitude to the US State Department for its support of Georgia's European aspirations.
The statement by the European People's Party on Georgia shows the agenda of the United National Movement opposition party and a part of the opposition “absolutely diverges” from the interests of the country, Shalva Papuashvili, the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, said on Wednesday.