NATO official “once again” said “no one” urges Georgia to impose bilateral sanctions on Russia - Parliament Speaker

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Thursday said Javier Colomina, the NATO Secretary General's Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, during his visit to Georgia, “once again emphasised” that “no one” was urging the country to impose bilateral sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

Papuashvili noted only part of the domestic opposition and some representatives of the non-governmental organisations were demanding to impose bilateral sanctions, and stressed both Georgia and its international partners had agreed that the country’s “main goal is to ensure that the sanctions not be circumvented by using Georgian territory”.

The “threat” of circumvention of sanctions has existed since the start of the war in Ukraine, when the European Union and other institutions began to impose sanctions on Russia, the Parliament Speaker said. The Georgian Government has been confirming “for more than a year” that the state is able to avoid the circumvention, he emphasised, adding “there have not been any such cases [of evasion of sanctions]”.