US Ambassador: No one wants to drag Georgia into war
US Ambassador to Georgia on Tbilisi’s participation in Russia-Ukraine war
According to US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan, no one wants to drag Georgia into a war, and the US wants this war to end as soon as possible.
As Degnan notes, this war was started by Russian President Vladimir Putin, and he can end it in one day. The United States and Europe have helped Georgia make progress over the past 30 years, especially with regard to Euro-Atlantic aspirations.
“And if you look at what Russia is doing, it has occupied 20% of the territory of Georgia. Russia was the one who tried to destroy the Georgian language, insulted the churches that they used as animal shelters”, the ambassador said.
She said that when it comes to Russia or any relationship with it, it is enough to “approach the administrative border and see what is happening there”.
“Your friends of Georgia are in Europe and the USA, and this is the path to peace, stability and success”, Kelly Degnan said.
Speaking about rapprochement with NATO, the ambassador stressed that Georgia is a strong partner of NATO, and this was well demonstrated by the size of the delegation sent from Georgia to the summit in Madrid.
According to Degnan, the Madrid summit once again became a demonstration of the unity of the Alliance, especially amid brutal and unprovoked aggression unleashed by Russia:
“This summit is further proof that NATO is a defense organization whose goal is to ensure peace and stability in the European region and beyond. This was another good opportunity for Georgia to discuss the steps and reforms that need to be taken in the country in terms of NATO and Euro-Atlantic integration.”
According to the US Ambassador, these steps, the implementation of these reforms necessary to obtain the status, will also help move Georgia towards NATO integration.
On June 29, former deputies from the ruling Georgian Dream party, who had announced the day before that they were leaving the party, made their first statement, which opponents of the authorities have already called an anti-Western conspiracy theory.
According to former MPs Mikhail Kavelashvili, Dimitri Khundadze and Sozar Subari, Georgia will not be granted candidate status in six months (the EU’s deadline for Georgia to implement reforms) “unless it participates in a war or imposes sanctions against Russia”.
As the former deputies explain, “The West needs Georgia only militarily,” and the Georgian people are considered “cannon fodder” there.
