Opinion: Georgia–US ties set to stagnate as Trump ‘unmoved’ by empty rhetoric

Opinion on Georgia–US relations

Former Georgian ambassador to the UK Giorgi Badridze has analysed statements by Georgian government leaders claiming that the country is returning to the US agenda. He said that a visit to Georgia by US State Department officials does not signal a breakthrough in the strained relations between the two countries.

Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili of the ruling Georgian Dream party said that representatives of the US State Department will visit Georgia in May.

According to the diplomat, the United States viewed the Anaklia port as a project of strategic importance and did not want it to fall into Chinese hands, but the Georgian government took the opposite course.

'Georgia is a frontline in global fight against dictatorships' — Interview with Congressman Joe Wilson

In an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Wilson says that “the Georgian people deserve genuinely free and fair elections.”

Giorgi Badridze said:

“I would very carefully assess how much this statement [by Georgian Dream about a visit by US State Department representatives to Georgia] can be trusted. I remember very well how the same people were waiting last January for Trump’s inauguration.

It was all presented as if the complete breakdown in relations between the US and Georgia had been the result of bias on the part of the Biden administration, rather than the election of Bidzina Ivanishvili, his decisions, his anti-Western and anti-American behaviour, his demonstrative overtures towards the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and statements that he was establishing strategic relations with opponents of the United States.

Incidentally, these so-called strategic relations have not materialised. Despite a memorandum on strategic partnership signed between the governments of Georgia and China, there are no signs that China has begun any serious cooperation with Georgia.”

Orbán’s defeat and Georgia: what Georgian Dream stands to lose in Hungary

In Georgia, the elections in Hungary were followed with particular attention

“We were previously promised an improvement in relations with the United States. I have not seen any concrete steps taken by this government to make Washington take the need to improve cooperation with Georgia more seriously. The fact that a State Department official may visit Georgia is not a sign of a breakthrough [in relations].

I do not see the Ivanishvili government’s efforts in this direction as being any different from what we are seeing in relations with the European Union or with individual countries. The government says: ‘We want cooperation and do not reject integration and membership of the European Union, but they must change their position’ — meaning that the EU should alter its fundamental principles and accept Georgia as Ivanishvili sees it.

In these circumstances, nothing will change in relations with the United States, whose current president places less emphasis on the quality of democracy in partner countries. I do not think Trump will be impressed by empty rhetoric about restoring relations.”

US Helsinki Commission: 'We are concerned by Georgian Dream’s decision to hand over Anaklia port to China'

“Infrastructure investments should be used to strengthen economic security, not to encourage foreign influence”

“The only message the US secretary of state left after his visit to Georgia during Trump’s first presidential term was that Anaklia is a promising project of strategic importance — it should be developed and not handed over to China. The Ivanishvili government did exactly the opposite, transferring the project to a Chinese company which, incidentally, has not lifted a finger or invested a single yuan in this or any other project.

I have often heard claims that China is making investments in Georgia. In reality, there are no such investments. These so-called strategic relations exist only on paper, and no funds are coming in — the irony is that money is in fact flowing out of Georgia to China.”

The U.S. extended sanctions against Bidzina Ivanishvili, seen as Georgia’s “shadow ruler”

They were imposed in 2024 as part of anti-Russian sanctions introduced by the previous U.S. president

“When people see Chinese workers involved in major infrastructure projects and assume that China is the investor, that is the height of irony, because these are loan-funded projects financed by European and American international institutions. Chinese money is not flowing into Georgia, certainly not on a scale that would justify a rupture in relations with Europe and the United States.

All that is needed to prevent the Anaklia project from remaining frozen is political will. This would not only be a gesture towards the United States, but also a demonstration of Georgia’s value in the development of a strategic corridor that the United States has supported from the outset.”

Opinion on Georgia–US relations