Georgian authorities taking “real steps” to limit transportation of war-related goods into Russia - US sanctions official

James O'Brien, the Head of the Office of Sanctions Coordination at the US State Department, on Wednesday said Georgia's customs services were taking “real steps” to limit the transportation of war-related goods into Russia on the backdrop of its ongoing invasion of Ukraine, and praised the Georgian Government as “good partners in terms of transparency”. 

In comments at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee session, the official noted his visit to the country in June along with colleagues from the European Union and the United Kingdom, and said they had found “encouraging” circumstances in the authorities’ work on prevention of sanctions evasion. 

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However, he noted Washington wanted to make sure Tbilisi was exercising “full control” over movement of goods across its border, “be it airfields or land borders”. 

This is a continuous work in which we provide a lot of help. They are good partners in terms of transparency. The question now is whether we can get better data in the future and whether we can better see what is happening with the recently resumed flights between Georgia and Russia", O'Brien said. 

Following their visit, the EU, UK and US sanctions officials said they had been “convinced” the country’s Government was “seriously determined” not to allow circumvention of the sanctions imposed on Russia.

For his part, O’Brien hailed the Government’s “complex” approach to the prevention of sanctions evasion, and noted it would allow international partners to identify trading of sanctioned goods if it continued operating.

He also stressed the importance of ensuring no supply of goods that could be used in the war to Russia, and highlighted the “very fruitful” cooperation with Georgian authorities during the visit.