U.S. Ambassador to Georgia, Kelly Degnan said “NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg and Secretary Blinken, both were very clear in their comments at the NATO Foreign Ministerial this week. This is a message that has been the same every year for the last 13 years, that Georgia and Ukraine will become members of the NATO Alliance.”

“This is strange to hear Russia objecting to this now, especially since Russia itself signed on to the Istanbul Convention in the mid-nineties, which made it very clear that all agreed that each sovereign nation has the right to decide and determine its own military alliances. Georgia has that right as well to decide for itself what military organizations or any other organization, this sovereign country wants to be a member of. Given the buildup of Russian forces on the borders of Ukraine right now, it seems that the real threat is coming from the North, not from NATO allies that are working together to bring greater stability and peace to the European region. This is in no way a threat to Russia. It is for Georgia, a sovereign nation, to decide for itself what alliances it wants to be a part of to protect its own territory,” Ambassador Degnan underscored.