Forgotten by Trump: why Georgia is not able to restore relations with the United States

Georgian President Mikhail Kavelashvili has written an open letter to US President Donald Trump. In his message, he complained that the United States was not paying enough attention to his country, although Tbilisi was ready to resume dialogue at any moment. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.

"They use crude methods"

Georgian President Mikhail Kavelashvili has written an open letter to Donald Trump. The message notes that Washington is doing nothing to restore bilateral relations, although Tbilisi is ready to resume dialogue.

According to him, the values of the current US administration and the Georgian Dream government coincide, but relations continue to be built not by Donald Trump's confidants, but by representatives of the "deep state." "They are using traditional crude methods, rooted through USAID, NED and other similar organizations, trying to destabilize and disrupt peace in Georgia," Kavelashvili emphasizes.

Photo: RIA Novosti/Alexander Imedashvili

He also added that in recent months, Donald Trump has managed to establish close relations with all countries in the region. For example, he helped Armenia and Azerbaijan agree on the text of a peace treaty, actively cooperated with the Turkish authorities, and even personally met with Vladimir Putin. "Against this background, your administration says nothing about Georgia, which is extremely surprising to our society," he said.

At the end of the letter, Kavelashvili toughened his rhetoric, accusing the Trump administration of passivity. "This raises questions among the Georgian people about how free and sincere the actions of the Americans are in terms of consolidating peace in the region," he stressed, adding that an honest and frank dialogue with the Georgian authorities could remedy the situation.

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The struggle for support

The American side has not yet responded to the message, but a heated discussion has unfolded inside Georgia itself. Representatives of the ruling party supported the president. Thus, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said that he fully shares Kavelashvili's sentiments and is also surprised by the passivity of Trump and his administration. "We really want this passivity to turn into an active mode, and we could talk about resuming our strategic partnership," the Georgian Prime Minister stressed.

Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze said that relations between the two countries were brought to a standstill by the previous American administration headed by Joe Biden, which acted through lies and propaganda. Archil Gorduladze, a member of the ruling party, said that the Georgian authorities and Donald Trump are very similar because they have abandoned pseudo-liberal doctrines. According to him, in such circumstances, it is time for both countries to start relations from scratch.

Photo: Global Look Press/Artur Widak

The opposition, on the contrary, criticized the content and style of the message. So, the leader of the Freedom Square movement, Levan Tsutskiridze, said that the authors have a real mess in their heads. "They say: "You're cool, but you don't know who works next to you. We know, and we wrote this letter so that you would figure it out and do the right thing. We want your support, but know that we will keep an eye on you." I read this letter and didn't understand anything," he said.

Former Defense Minister Tina Khidasheli considered that the letter was actually addressed to an internal audience. She recalled that local elections will be held in Georgia in a month and a half, many voters are unhappy with the isolation of the country from the West, so the ruling team has to look for a way out. "The solution is really simple: stop writing letters and return to the path of democracy and European integration," she stressed.

A country that doesn't exist

Relations between Georgia and the United States soured last year. At first, the reason was the adoption of the law on foreign agents in the Transcaucasian republic, followed by a ban on LGBT propaganda (the movement is recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation). In addition, parliamentary elections were held in the country in the fall, and the Georgian opposition and some observers claimed that the procedure was flawed.

Photo: Global Look Press/Maria Giulia

As a result, the United States imposed sanctions on a number of officials, deputies, judges, and security officials, including the founder of the ruling party, Bidzina Ivanishvili. In addition, Washington blocked the allocation of financial assistance to Tbilisi in the amount of $95 million, canceled Noble Partner military exercises and announced the suspension of the strategic partnership.

Joe Biden said at the time that he was disappointed by the anti-democratic behavior of the Georgian authorities. In response, they stated that the American "deep state" was pushing Tbilisi to open a second front against Russia, which explained all the problems. "The main reason for the difficulties is that we did not enter the war in February 2022," Prime Minister Kobakhidze said.

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At the same time, Georgia did not hide that they were counting on warming under the new American president. Representatives of the ruling party stated that Donald Trump is ideologically close to the Georgian Dream, shares conservative values, and is more inclined to develop business contacts rather than promote ideological attitudes. So far, however, these hopes have not materialized.

Of course, some cosmetic changes are taking place. So, the American president congratulated Mikhail Kavelashvili on the Independence Day of the country, and then accepted credentials from the new Georgian ambassador. In addition, Agile Spirit exercises were held in the republic this summer with the participation of the American military, and Deputy Prime Minister Levan Davitashvili visited the United States, where he met with representatives of the State Department and the Ministry of Finance.

Photo: Global Look Press/U.S. Army

Globally, nothing has changed in the relationship. There are no high-level meetings, sanctions remain in effect, financial assistance has not been unblocked, and the strategic partnership has not been reanimated. The most important thing is that Donald Trump is silent about Georgia, as if such a country does not exist, and nothing is known about how the American administration wanted to see relations with Tbilisi.

The May statement by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who called the Georgian authorities an anti-American government during a hearing in the US House of Representatives, thundered out of the blue. "We are asking ourselves the question: is it in our interests to have such a government in an important region of the world? If not, we will take measures to ensure that it bears the costs. This issue is currently being considered," he said.

Against this background, it is not the first time that the Georgian authorities have tried to reach out to Washington. For example, Prime Minister Kobakhidze had previously written an open letter to Trump. In the message, he complained that the Americans were conducting a dialogue even with authoritarian leaders, but Georgia was forgotten. US Ambassador Robin Dunnigan then called the message offensive, but there was no reaction from Washington. It is quite possible that the current appeal will remain unanswered.

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What the experts say

Georgian political analyst Zaal Andjaparidze believes that Kavelashvili's letter is unlikely to improve relations with the United States.

— Firstly, it is written in a strange edifying tone, which is completely out of line with the Georgian president, who is clearly less influential than the American leader. Secondly, a similar letter has already been written by Irakli Kobakhidze, who actually has more authority than Kavelashvili. If that message went unanswered, then this one will be a blank shot," he argues.

President of Georgia Mikhail Kavelashvili

Photo: TASS/Irakli Gedenidze

The expert adds that Washington is annoyed by the behavior of the Georgian Dream, including Tbilisi's contacts with China. According to him, the ideal for Americans was the previous authorities of the country, led by Mikhail Saakashvili, who fulfilled all the whims of Western countries.

Archil Sikharulidze, founder of the SIKHA Foundation Research Institute, says that the difficulties in relations between the United States and Georgia are related to the activities of the previous American administration.

— The people who worked under Joe Biden have left a difficult legacy, it cannot be leveled in any way, besides, many officials have retained their positions and continue to work. In general, this whole situation with open letters highlights one unpleasant fact. It is obvious that the Georgian elite does not think of their country as truly independent, they want to be under the wing of some kind of bloc or a strong country. Apparently, we still haven't developed a truly sovereign political mindset," he explains.