According to Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, neither the honorary chairman of Georgian Dream, Bidzina Ivanishvili, nor the team as a whole is interested in the issue of US sanctions. The only thing that matters to them is restoring relations with the United States.
“When it comes to the United States of America, we want to restore the strategic partnership and are actively working on this,” Kobakhidze said.
According to the prime minister, they have “made a bid” in this direction and are now awaiting “reciprocal steps.”
He described the sanctions imposed by Washington against Bidzina Ivanishvili on December 27, 2024, as “the previous administration’s absurdity.” At the same time, Donald Trump’s administration has not revoked the decision made by Joe Biden’s administration.
“The main thing is that Bidzina Ivanishvili is not interested, and consequently, we are not interested either in what happens or how it happens, except for one thing: if the strategic partnership is restored, that will be an indicator of everything,” Kobakhidze noted.
The prime minister reiterated that Tbilisi remains optimistic on the matter: “We view the developments calmly. Just as under the previous administration we calmly handled the attacks coming from them, we view the processes today in the exact same calm manner. Thank God, these attacks are no longer happening. Relations have essentially recovered. We remain optimistic that the strategic partnership will be resumed. Everything else depends entirely and completely on the American administration.”
According to Kobakhidze, he also brought up the resumption of the strategic partnership during brief conversations with US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Commenting on their reaction, Kobakhidze said he could not go into detail: “Since the communication was not public, the takeaway was that work must continue.”
As a reminder, on December 27, 2024, the US Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions against the billionaire, founder, and honorary chairman of Georgian Dream. The restrictions also affected his legal dispute with Credit Suisse bank.
“Under Bidzina Ivanishvili’s leadership, Georgian Dream has advanced Kremlin interests and derailed Georgia from its Euro-Atlantic trajectory, directly contradicting the provisions of the Constitution of Georgia and the will of the Georgian people,” the US Department of State said in a statement.
“The actions of Ivanishvili and Georgian Dream have undermined democratic institutions, facilitated human rights abuses, and impeded the defense of fundamental freedoms in Georgia,” then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized.
The imposition of sanctions was preceded by the suspension of the Charter on Strategic Partnership, concluded between the United States and Georgia back in 2009. The decision to suspend the partnership was made on November 30, 2024—following Georgian Dream’s announcement that it was shelving EU accession negotiations, as well as the subsequent violent crackdown on protests.
According to the State Department statement, the “anti-democratic actions” of Georgian Dream breached the core principles of the strategic partnership—commitment to democracy, the rule of law, support for civil society, respect for human rights, and the fight against corruption.
