US State Secretary notes importance of Geneva International Discussions after appointing Senior Advisor for Caucasus Negotiations
In his statement over the appointment, Blinken said Reeker would serve as the US Co-Chair of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe Minsk Group and lead negotiator for the US delegation to the Geneva International Discussions. Photo: Reuters
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The United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday appointed Ambassador Philip Reeker as Senior Advisor for Caucasus Negotiations, and noted the significance of the Geneva International Discussions, a platform created following the 2008 Russia-Georgia war and in the wake of the ongoing occupation of Georgian regions, for the US.
In his statement over the appointment, Blinken said Reeker would serve as the US Co-Chair of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe Minsk Group and lead negotiator for the US delegation to the Geneva International Discussions.
Ambassador Reeker’s appointment at this time reaffirms the importance the United States places in the Geneva International Discussions on Georgia”, the statement said.
Blinken also stressed the US was “committed” to helping Armenia and Azerbaijan negotiate a “long-term political settlement” to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Ambassador Reeker will engage bilaterally, with like-minded partners such as the European Union, and through his role as an OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair, to facilitate direct dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan”, he concluded in his statement.
US president Joe Biden has congratulated Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on victory in the parliamentary elections and stated that Armenian prisoners’ safe return with Georgia’s support after the war with Azerbaijan ‘will be an important basis for further regional cooperation.’ Nikol Pashinyan’s political party Civil Pact won the snap parliamentary elections in Armenia in late June which were scheduled due to the political crisis caused by the war with Azerbaijan.
The United States is grateful to Georgia for its ‘vital role’ facilitating the recent discussions between Armenia and Azerbaijan. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken thanked the government of Georgia following the release of 15 Armenian detainees in Azerbaijan yesterday.
United States Acting Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Reeker has stated in Tbilisi that Georgia remains the US’s top strategic partnership in the South Caucasus and a crucial partner in the Black Sea region. He said that his recent visit to Georgia aimed to ensure the further development of Georgia as a safe and a democratic country ‘for which the implementation of the April 19 EU-mediated agreement is important.’
Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani has met with the US Acting Assistant Secretary of State of European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Reeker in Washington to discuss the issues of strategic partnership.“The Georgia-US cooperation has been given high assessments in all fields, as well as the activities of the group created per the Strategic Partnership Charter,” Georgian Foreign Ministry reported earlier today.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Philip Reeker, the Senior Adviser of the United States Department of State for Caucasus Negotiations and the Geneva International Discussions, met in Tbilisi on Monday to discuss Russia’s war in Ukraine, regional and global security challenges and the situation in Georgia’s Russian-occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) regions, the Administration of the Government of Georgia said.
Georgian parliament speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Wednesday highlighted security risks Georgia faced on the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a country that had a part of its territory occupied.
Georgian deputy foreign minister Lasha Darsalia on Wednesday said the 56th round of the Geneva International Discussions would focus on the need to fulfil the obligations undertaken by Russia under the 2008 ceasefire agreement that ended the conflict between the two countries.
Peter Stano, the spokesperson for the external affairs of the European Union, on Wednesday said the bloc remained committed to its “active involvement” in the Geneva International Discussions as a Co-Chair of the talks.
Georgian prime minister Irakli Garibashvili on Wednesday discussed the importance of the United States-Georgia strategic partnership and the “positive dynamic” in existing cooperation with Philip Reeker, the state department senior adviser for Caucasus negotiations and the Geneva International Discussions.