An event dedicated to Georgia’s Independence Day was held in the US, organized on June 1 by the Georgian Ambassador, Tamar Taliashvili. It was addressed by US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, who spoke about the symbolic nature of the event:
“Unfortunately, in recent years, relations between our countries have not been as close as I would like, given the ties that unite us. To be frank, I rarely attend national day celebrations. Over the past 15 months since my appointment, I have attended only three such events. Therefore, when I attend a national day event, it is indeed a symbolic gesture, and it symbolizes our desire to improve relations…
Georgia occupies an incredibly important strategic geographical position in the Caucasus region, especially against the backdrop of the recently reached peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan. I believe this creates new economic opportunities in terms of regional integration. I have also visited Central Asia. I think there are many opportunities there, given the trade route from India through Central Asia, which passes through the Caucasus and connects to Europe via the Black Sea.
Therefore, I am very pleased that President Trump has given our administration the freedom to review relations with various countries, which in some cases have remained frozen for many years. I believe that valuable opportunities are opening up here, and I think Georgia is precisely one of those countries.
I know that last week we sent our delegation to Tbilisi, and I look forward with a positive outlook to continuing to work with your government to find even more common ground, whether in the economy, security, or politics. Let us work in this very direction, because, in my view, our countries indeed share many common interests.
To repeat once again: I hope that my presence today will be perceived as a strong signal that we are sincerely interested in improving bilateral relations, not only for economic reasons but also because we believe it serves the interests of our nations,” the US Deputy Secretary of State emphasized.
