President Zurabishvili: Georgia can rely on its partners in these difficult geopolitical times
Zurabishvili emphasised the importance of Stoltenberg’s statement, which pointed out that the Russian military forces in Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova are 'uninvited and not welcomed.' Photo: President's press office/Archive.
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Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has responded to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg’s statement calling on Russia to withdraw forces from Georgia, stating that Georgia can rely on its partners in these difficult geopolitical times ‘to continue supporting our sovereignty and territorial integrity.’
Zurabishvili emphasised the importance of Stoltenberg’s statement, which pointed out that the Russian military forces in Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova are 'uninvited and not welcomed.'
Important statement today by @jensstoltenberg. In these difficult geopolitical times, we see that Georgia can rely on its partners to continue supporting our sovereignty and territorial integrity.
— Salome Zourabichvili (@Zourabichvili_S) January 12, 2022
A NATO-Russia council meeting took place in Brussels yesterday where the issues of Ukraine and EU security were on the agenda, while today an OSCE Permanent Council meeting is scheduled in Vienna.
Stoltenberg also noted several days ago that NATO was ‘consulting closely’ with its partners, including Georgia prior to the meeting.
Following the Russia-US Strategic Stability Dialogue which took place on January 10, US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman stated that the US ‘will not allow anyone to slam closed NATO's open door policy,’ while Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said that ‘Russia needs concrete guarantees that Ukraine and Georgia will never become NATO members.’
Russia released a statement on December 10 demanding NATO member states rescind the 2008 Bucharest Summit declaration supporting Georgia's and Ukraine's goal of becoming members of the alliance.
Georgia condemned the statement, calling it ‘unacceptable.’