Marco Rubio: ‘US expects Georgian government to change course’
During a hearing in the US House of Representatives, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the Georgian government had approached the administration of President Donald Trump to ask how it could improve relations with the United States.
Rubio said Washington had informed the Georgian side of the steps it would need to take to achieve that goal. According to the secretary of state, the United States hopes that Georgia’s authorities will change their current “trajectory”.
Republican Congressman Joe Wilson thanked Donald Trump for requiring Georgia’s ruling party, Georgian Dream, to “change its behaviour” as a condition for improving relations with the United States.
“The anti-American Georgian Dream regime facilitates the malign activities of Iran and the Chinese Communist Party while unjustly arresting its own people. I am grateful that President Trump is demanding a change in behaviour from this rogue state,” the congressman wrote on X.
During the hearing, Joe Wilson asked the secretary of state:
“The pro-Iranian and Chinese Communist Party-backed Georgian Dream government is illegitimate and threatens America’s access to the region. Georgia held fraudulent parliamentary elections. The authorities facilitate the activities of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and help Tehran circumvent sanctions. In your view, what needs to be done to address the rapid radicalisation in Georgia that Georgian Dream is encouraging?”
Marco Rubio replied:
“You are right. We are concerned about all the issues you mentioned. They have taken certain steps and have indicated to us that they want to improve relations with the United States. We told them what they need to do in order to achieve that. We have received positive responses, and we hope to see a trajectory different from the one we see today.”
Earlier, the US Embassy in Georgia released a statement about meetings held in Tbilisi between an American delegation and representatives of both the government and the opposition, as well as Washington’s vision for the future of US-Georgian relations.
According to the statement, the US delegation stressed its interest in expanding commercial cooperation with Georgia and discussed “specific steps” that the Georgian government could take to achieve that goal.
US Secretary of State comments on Georgia
