Russian diplomat praised Georgian authorities for "balanced" position on Ukraine

Russia welcomes Georgia’s position on Ukraine

Chairman of the Russian Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs, former Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin praised the Georgian authorities for their position on Ukraine.

Karasin called Georgia’s response to the anti-Russian sanctions of the West “balanced” and stressed that “this would not go unnoticed” in Russia.

Karasin made this statement at a meeting with Georgian political scientists at the Gorchakov Foundation.

Exactly one month after the start of the war in Ukraine, on March 24, a conference of Georgian and Russian experts opened at the Gorchakov Foundation in Moscow, which was attended by about 40 political scientists and scientists from both countries. The meeting was also attended by representatives of the Georgian diaspora, according to the website of the Gorchakov Foundation.

• Op-ed: Who is speculating on the fear of war in Georgia and why?
• US Ambassador to Georgia: Tbilisi must comply with international sanctions against Russia
• Is it necessary to raise the issue of de-occupation of Georgia amid ongoing Russia-Ukraine war?

The event was organized by the Foundation for the Support of Public Diplomacy named after Gorchakov and the Georgian-Russian public center named after Primakov.

Karasin analyzed the history of Russian-Georgian relations. He said that since 2012, after the Georgian Dream came to power and the launch of the Abashidze-Karasin format of bilateral meetings (Karasin’s meeting with the official representative of the Georgian government, Zurab Abashizde), Russia has become Georgia’s second most important trading partner. According to him, all restrictions on Georgian goods have been lifted, and Georgia’s exports to Russia have increased 14 times.

Karasin also expressed a desire to update the format of the currently frozen talks in Geneva.

“If we want the negotiations between Russia and Georgia to yield results on key issues, we must remove extreme positions from the agenda. The worst strategy in any diplomatic practice is to uncompromisingly and immediately set the ultimate goal. If we want to resolve the dispute, we must go step by step”, Karasin said.

Representatives of the Georgian authorities have already reacted to Karasin’s statement regarding Georgia’s position on Ukraine. Archil Talakvadze, one of the leaders of the ruling Georgian Dream party and deputy speaker of parliament, said:

“Praise or curtsy from the Russian Federation means nothing to the Georgian government. We have a clearly defined policy – 20% of the territory of Georgia is occupied”.

Talakvadze stated that the Georgian government had nothing to do with the conference in Moscow.

“If you are interested in our position, then in this situation, when Russia invaded Ukraine and hostilities are underway, we believe that the participation of Georgian citizens in this format was inappropriate”, he said.

Georgia has not joined the sanctions imposed by the West on Russia. Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said that Georgia would not join the Western sanctions against Russia, as it was contrary to the country’s national interests, and the sanctions cannot stop the hostilities in Ukraine.

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili takes a different stance, advocating more radical moves against Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recalled the Ukrainian ambassador to Georgia for consultations. One of the reasons for this decision was the position of the Georgian government regarding sanctions.