Tbilisi (AsiaNews) – US President Donald Trump is keen to strengthen relations with Georgia, according to reports issued in recent days by the Georgian government’s press office.
According to the statement, the US President wrote a letter in response to the Georgian Prime Minister’s congratulations on the 250th anniversary of US independence, stating that “I sincerely appreciate your kind thoughts; by working together to uphold sovereignty, security and continued prosperity, we can make significant progress. I look forward to strengthening our cooperation and moving forward together towards a safer, more prosperous and peaceful future”.
The US leader also emphasised the importance of friendship with partners who share the same ideals as the United States. As for Georgia, relations with the United States had deteriorated following the adoption of a law on foreign agents in 2024; in November of the same year, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced the suspension of the country’s EU accession negotiations until the end of 2028. Following this, the US State Department suspended its strategic partnership with the country.
MPs from the ruling Georgian Dream party reacted very positively to the US President’s message, expressing the hope that the letter sent to mark the anniversary of American independence – in which he expressed his intention to strengthen cooperation between the two countries for a secure future – would mark the beginning of a long-awaited revival of Georgian-American relations.
MP David Matikashvili noted that the programmes and political approaches of the Trump administration and Georgian Dream share a common conservative foundation, and that it is therefore natural that, under President Trump, Washington is softening its stance towards Tbilisi, which had hardened during Joseph Biden’s presidency.
Matikašvili emphasised that Trump’s letter is not the first sign of this kind from the US, but it is the strongest to date. The MP added that Tbilisi is awaiting concrete steps from Washington to restore relations to their previous level, stating that “we have repeatedly affirmed, and today we reaffirm unequivocally, that with the new leadership we are ready to re-establish from scratch a genuine, real, tangible and mutually acceptable strategic partnership with the United States”.
Another MP, Tengiz Šarmanašvili, made it clear that Tbilisi is primarily interested in strengthening its sovereignty, and it is in this regard that it would like to establish contacts with Washington.
At the same time, Georgia will not compromise its national interests for the sake of US interests: “If we can cooperate with the United States to strengthen what President Trump has already stated directly to the Georgian Prime Minister, we are ready and will take all measures that are in our interest,” said Šarmanašvili.
Georgia is seeking to continually expand the scope of its political and economic alliances, demonstrating that it is not dependent on the prospects of integration with the European Union, with which relations have effectively stalled. In recent days, Kobakhidze stated that “our country is taking a particular interest in our neighbours in Central Asia”, and relations with Xi Jinping’s China are also becoming increasingly close. But the primary aim is undoubtedly the re-establishment and development of relations with the United States.
