James O’Brien, Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs of the US State Department, will visit Georgia in the coming days. The US Embassy confirmed this, though specific details are not yet disclosed.
Earlier, TV channel “Pirveli” reported that a senior White House official would arrive in Georgia on the evening of Monday, May 13. According to their information, a meeting with the opposition is already scheduled.
The third reading of the “foreign agents” bill is scheduled for the morning of May 13. It is expected that the ruling “Georgian Dream,” which has the necessary majority in parliament, will then adopt the law.
In June 2023, EU Special Representative for Sanctions David O’Sullivan and James O’Brien visited Georgia. They expressed the EU’s disappointment that Georgia had not joined the Western sanctions against Russia, although they “understood the reasons for this decision” given the geopolitical context.
During the visit, James O’Brien stated that the main goal of the sanctions was to prevent Russian military from obtaining weapons used to kill people in Ukraine. O’Brien confirmed that Georgia had made significant efforts and established a sophisticated system to ensure compliance with the sanctions.
In an interview with Voice of America, the senior official stated that Georgia fully complies with the financial sanctions imposed by the West against Russia, although the transit of electronic goods to Russia, which is no longer legal, has increased.
At the annual meeting of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), O’Brien remarked that Russia is trying to evade certain sanctions through other states, hindering the achievement of the restrictions’ objectives.
