Georgia peeling away from Moscow, expert suggests

Nation

6 May, 02:30 AM

Georgian PM Irakli Kobakhidze met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy despite Moscow’s palpable irritation, suggesting that Tbilisi is searching for a way out of a strategic dead end in its foreign policy, Serhiy Danilov, deputy head of the Association for Middle East Studies, told NV Radio on May 5.

“The ruling Georgian Dream party had counted on having excellent relations with the Trump administration, because that administration cared less about democratic standards than previous ones,” Danilov said.

“But that didn’t work out for them. They are in a unique situation: they missed the chance — unlike [Belarusian dictator Alexander] Lukashenko — to improve ties with Washington. It’s a dead end, politically and economically. Economically because they help to circumvent sanctions.”

Danilov said that although all of Russia’s neighbors gained from its aggression against Ukraine in some ways, Georgia found itself in a strategic impasse.

He said Kobakhidze traveled to Yerevan and met with Zelenskyy, which Danilov called a notable signal given that Russia was reportedly very irritated by Zelenskyy’s visit to Armenia and had attempted to derail it.

On May 4, Zelenskyy confirmed he had met with Kobakhidze. “Our countries do have open questions. It is important to have dialogue at all levels. Ukraine has always respected and respects Georgia, its sovereignty and its people. We will continue our cooperation,” the Ukrainian president said.

Kobakhidze, commenting on the meeting, said that despite existing difficulties the two countries share “a very long history of friendship,” and that Georgia is ready to do everything necessary to normalize relations between the states and between their governments.

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