Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, having returned from New York after attending the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, stated that he had had the opportunity to speak “with both the US President and the Secretary of State”:
“I noted that our desire is to restore the strategic partnership, and this largely depends on the United States itself. We have taken a step, and we are awaiting reciprocal steps—this brief conversation went very positively.”
According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Georgian Service, Kobakhidze’s interaction with Donald Trump reportedly took place during a reception for heads of UN delegations. No photographs documenting the encounter have been released so far.
The Georgian Prime Minister addressed the General Debate of the General Assembly session on September 24.
In his speech, Kobakhidze described “preserving peace and strengthening international cooperation” as Tbilisi’s “foremost priorities” at a time when “developments unfolding across various regions of the world challenge the status quo and call into question the future of the international order.” However, as Radio Liberty noted, he did not mention any specific region or event.
The Strategic Partnership Charter between Tbilisi and Washington had been in place since 2009. However, the United States suspended the agreement following the Georgian authorities’ decision to halt European integration and their violent crackdown on anti-government protests.
The US State Department declared that the “anti-democratic actions” of the ruling Georgian Dream party breached the foundational principles of the strategic partnership—namely, adherence to democracy, the rule of law, civil society, human rights, and anti-corruption efforts.
Tbilisi labeled Washington’s decision “unfair,” attributing it to the biased policies of the previous US administration under Joe Biden. Following Donald Trump’s victory in the US election, Georgian Dream hoped for a restoration of the partnership, but this never materialized. Ruling party leaders sent open letters to Trump urging him to start relations afresh on the basis of a “concrete roadmap.” The US President, however, never responded to any of the messages and held no meetings with Prime Minister Kobakhidze.
