Kobakhidze Hopes Trump Will Reassess U.S. Policy Towards Tbilisi

The Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Kobakhidze, has expressed hope that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump will reevaluate its policy towards Tbilisi, as well as the sanctions imposed by previous U.S. administrations. This was reported by TASS.

“I believe that the approaches that were in place under the previous U.S. administration will be fundamentally reassessed, including a reconsideration of the sanctions policy. This is our assumption,” Kobakhidze told reporters.

On November 30, 2024, the U.S. State Department announced that the United States had suspended its strategic partnership with Georgia. This came after the Georgian Prime Minister declared on November 28 that the ruling party, “Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia,” had decided not to include the issue of negotiations for EU membership in their agenda until the end of 2028, and to reject all budget grants from the EU.

In December 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury included former Georgian Minister of Internal Affairs Vakhtang Gomelauri and former deputy director of the Special Affairs Department of the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs Mirza Kezevadze in its sanctions list under the Magnitsky Act. According to U.S. authorities, Gomelauri and Kezevadze were involved in the suppression of “media representatives, opposition figures, and protesters, including during the 2024 demonstrations.”