Georgia’s Ambassador says Gov’t “committed” to strategic partnership, cooperation with US

David Zalkaliani, the Georgian Ambassador to the United States, on Thursday said his Government was “committed” to strategic partnership and cooperation with the US.

In his remarks on the sidelines of the ongoing NATO Summit in Washington, Zalkaliani said he hoped “everything will be done to overcome difficulties” created between the two countries following the adoption of the controversial law on transparency of foreign influence by the Georgian Parliament in May.

He also reviewed a meeting between the Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili and the US Under Secretary of State John Bass on the sidelines of the Summit.

“Today's meeting gives me a reason for optimism. It is necessary that contacts continue. Despite the current situation, contacts have been constantly in place recently. As the Ambassador of Georgia, I was in constant contact with our strategic partners”, Zalkaliani said. 

“We are very committed to overcoming the current situation, because our cooperation and relations established over the years do not deserve the current situation, and we must return not only to the last mark where we were, but we also must further strengthen it and move it to a qualitatively new level”, he continued. 

The diplomat further added ​​the Georgian Government had “repeatedly proven” that it was “committed to democratic reforms” and said previous elections in the country were “providing grounds” for expecting that the upcoming parliamentary elections on October 26 would be “held in accordance with international principles and standards”.