Georgian PM discusses “importance of strategic ties” with US state department senior advisor
US ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan and Georgian government administration head Revaz Javelidze also attended a Wednesday meeting between Georgian PM Irakli Garibashvili and US official Philip Reeker. Photo: government press office
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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.
The government administration said the officials expressed their “full readiness” to further strengthen cooperation at a working dinner in Tbilisi.
Discussing the security situation in the South Caucasus region and his initiative to mediate between Azerbaijan and Armenia in their dispute over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, Garibashvili noted “negotiations are the only and important way to resolve any conflict and move forward”.
In June 2021, Garibashvili and Reeker brokered a deal which involved Azerbaijan’s release of 15 Armenian prisoners of war in exchange for receiving from Armenia a map of landmines in the Agdam district of the region.
In the agreement, which followed the most recent flare-up of the conflict over the region, the captives were handed over to Armenia on the Azerbaijani-Georgian border, with the Georgian authorities attending the swap.
Philip Reeker, the senior adviser of the United States department of state for Caucasus negotiations, on Thursday said Georgia's role was “critically important” for regional peace, stability and interconnectivity.
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.
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.
Azerbaijan has released 15 Armenian citizens through the facilitation of Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and the United States Acting Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Reeker.
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.’
Georgia’s strategic partnership with the United States and the cooperation between the two countries were discussed on Thursday in a meeting between prime minister Irakli Garibashvili and general Christopher Cavoli, the commander of the United States European Command.
General Christopher Cavoli, the commander of the United States European Command, on Thursday highlighted “fantastic progress” made by the Georgian defence forces over the years.
United States Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan on Wednesday said the US had been one of Georgia’s most “steadfast supporters” in the effort to help establish “stable democracy” over the past 30 years.