Georgian PM hails “very close” ties with Azerbaijan, Armenia, efforts to improve cooperation
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Thursday addressed a panel discussion during the Davos Economic Forum. Photo: Government press office
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Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Thursday hailed his country’s “very close” ties with neighbouring Azerbaijan and Armenia and the ongoing efforts to sign a peace deal for ending their lasting dispute over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Addressing a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the Georgian top official commended the “shared desire” of Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders to resolve the conflict as an “appropriate approach”.
He also recounted his office's mediation two years ago, which concluded with Azerbaijan releasing 15 prisoners of war and Armenia providing the former with maps detailing mined areas.
Reflecting on challenges posed by multiple mediators and stakeholders, Garibashvili underscored the potential for “increased conflict and counterproductivity in the absence of a focused bilateral process”, while extending his “best wishes” to both states for success on their path of restoring bilateral ties.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Thursday said Georgia was “truly” a “neutral and impartial mediator” between Azerbaijan and Armenia, at a panel discussion Eurasia's Middle Corridor: From Pathway to Highway within the framework of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Georgian prime minister Irakli Garibashvili said, on Wednesday, at a joint press conference with Germany’s chancellor Olaf Scholz, that he hoped Armenia and Azerbaijan would soon return to the “path of dialogue”, noting Georgian government was observing the ongoing events in the neighbourhood with “great concern”. Garibashvili emphasised Armenia and Azerbaijan have been friendly countries for Georgia and what was “happening” between them was “unacceptable”.
Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili on Saturday welcomed his Azerbaijani and Armenian counterparts Ararat Mirzoyan and Jeyhun Bayramov in Tbilisi, noting his "pride" on the Georgian capital hosting talks between the countries of the region.
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.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić on Thursday praised Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on the sidelines of the ongoing World Economic Forum in Davos by saying the latter “deserves to rule the state for years”.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Thursday promoted Georgia as a country of “significant geostrategic location” and said his Government was “loyal” to the idea of developing the Middle Corridor - a logistics link connecting Europe with Asia - which he said would become a more “interesting, attractive, alternative route”.
Alibek Kuantyrov, the Economy Minister of Kazakhstan, on Thursday said his country, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia were expecting to increase exports from the Caspian Sea through the Middle Corridor, a logistics link connecting Europe with Asia, to 10 million tonnes by 2025.