Georgia’s Foreign Minister: Georgia awaits reset with Washington

Georgia’s Foreign Minister, Maka Botchorishvili, has spoken on the state of relations between Tbilisi and Washington. While acknowledging that communication between the two sides continues, she emphasised caution in not raising expectations beyond what the current circumstances permit.

“There have indeed been certain communications with the American side. For nearly a year now, we have been waiting for the United States to take concrete steps in its relationship with Georgia. Communication has taken place, but I do not want to create inflated expectations based on those communications,” Botchorishvili said in an interview with Rustavi 2 TV.

She added that Georgia remains open to consultations and is looking forward to a reassessment of the relationship, one that would restore the two countries to a framework of strategic partnership grounded in mutual respect and equality.

“It is, of course, important that substantive discussions begin on specific issues. We expect consultations between Georgia and the United States, and we hope to overcome the genuinely difficult legacy that the Biden administration left in our bilateral relations,” the minister said.

Botchorishvili noted that in recent years, Georgia had become a subject of daily political discussion in the United States, including at the White House, a dynamic that frequently spilt over into Georgia’s own domestic political processes. Throughout that period, Georgia consistently and publicly stated its position on what a reset of relations should look like.

“We have stated publicly, on more than one occasion, what we consider a genuine reassessment of relations with the United States to mean. The matter in which the Biden administration has left Georgia-U.S. relations is unacceptable to us, and we have made our position clear. We have also repeatedly made clear that the so-called MEGOBARI Act, which was under consideration in the U.S. Congress and which we never regarded as a friendly act in any sense, was not something we wanted to serve as the defining framework or foundation of Georgia-U.S. relations. All of this has been said, our positions are on the record, and we naturally expect clarity from the American side regarding its relationship with Georgia,” Botchorishvili stated.

The minister also drew attention to Washington’s engagement with the wider region. She noted that the U.S. Vice President’s visits to Armenia and Azerbaijan were connected to President Trump’s emphasis on ending the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict and advancing peace, a process Georgia views positively and in which it plays an active role. Botchorishvili also addressed the speculation that Georgia risks being sidelined in regional developments.

“When we speak about the role of our region, and increasingly the conversation centres on the Middle Corridor and Georgia’s significance within it, it is simply inconceivable that anyone could diminish Georgia’s role. It cannot be done, no matter how hard they try. No one rules out the existence of alternative routes, and there is nothing wrong with that, but bypassing Georgia altogether is unthinkable. Georgia is the only country in the region with access to the sea, and that fact alone is sufficient reason to rest assured that no one will ever be able to marginalise Georgia’s role,” Botchorishvili said.