Conflicting stories emerge about US diplomatic outreach to Georgia

On Wednesday, the US Embassy said that Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili rejected a meeting request with US Ambassador Robin Dunnigan, who had been tapped to deliver a message on behalf of Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the administration of President Donald Trump.

The announcement capped off days of conflicting stories about US diplomatic outreach to Georgia.

The US Embassy said that it was a message to ‘again relay specific steps the Georgian government can take to show it is serious about resetting its relationship with the US’.

‘It is our hope that the Georgian government sincerely wishes to return to 33 years of partnership and friendship with America and the American people’, the message concluded.

Opposing Independence Day messages

However, the previous day, Georgian President Mikheil Kavelashvili’s press office said it had received a congratulatory message on the occasion of Georgia’s Independence Day from the Trump administration with a significantly different tone.

OC Media is reprinting the message in its entirety.

Dear Mr. President:

Today marks the 107th anniversary of Georgia’s independence — an epic milestone in the Georgian people’s fight for sovereignty, security, and national identity following generations of adversity and hardship.

My Administration is committed to strengthening peaceful and productive relationships with the Georgian government. I look forward to deepening the economic ties between our two countries, including by supporting fair trade and expanding the scope of our bilateral cooperation.

I offer my best wishes to the people of Georgia as they commemorate this significant event in their nation’s storied history.

Sincerely,
Donald J. Trump.

The message was widely circulated in pro-government media in Georgia, as well as in Armenia and Azerbaijan.

In response, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said he was ‘very pleased’ to have received the letter, noting that it differed in tone from a previous Independence Day message sent on Rubio’s behalf on Monday.

Rubio’s message, also reprinted in its entirety, read:

On behalf of the United States of America, I extend my greetings to the people of Georgia on this national day.

For over thirty years, the friendship and partnership between our nations has been built on shared values of democracy, sovereignty, and the pursuit of a better future.

On this day, we celebrate the strength and resilience of the Georgian people and our enduring bonds. The Georgian people’s love of and commitment to freedom and independence is inspiring. The United States remains committed to a partnership in line with Georgia’s aspirations for a secure and prosperous future’.

Drawing an explicit comparison between the messages, Kobakhidze said in an interview on Tuesday that the ‘differences between the letters reflect internal confrontation that is unfolding between the Trump administration and the “deep state” ’.

‘This difference already reflects the emerging conflict between the new administration and the “deep state”. There is no other explanation for how two such radically different messages could be sent to Georgia from the same government’, Kobakhidze said, echoing past theories stated by Georgian Dream officials.

The story about the conflicting messages continued to become more convoluted with the involvement of Kimberly Lowe, a fringe, failed US politician and outspoken promoter of Trump who has received a growing following among Georgian Dream supporters.

Lowe claimed on Tuesday that she had shared Kobakhidze’s earlier open letter to Trump ‘to Washington DC to the appropriate channels to send to President Trump and he has responded’.

This in turn fueled speculation that Trump’s supposed message may not have been authentic, and instead copied from Lowe, who has a previous history of exaggerating her access to the Trump administration.

OC Media has reached out to the US Embassy to confirm the veracity of Trump’s letter, but has not received a response.

Ivanishvili responds

Shortly after the US Embassy released its statement claiming Ivanishvili had refused to meet with Dunnigan, he responded in kind, saying the embassy’s message was ‘incomprehensible to me because the embassy knows very well all the details related to this issue’.

Ivanishvili said he had ‘deep respect’ for Rubio, but that he had previously told the US he would refuse to have high-level talks as long as personal sanctions – which he referred to as ‘blackmail’ — were in place.

In December 2024, against the backdrop of ongoing protests against Georgia’s EU U-turn and subsequent heavy-handed police crackdown, the US sanctioned Ivanishvili.

He also mentioned monetary damages from a lawsuit that the US Treasury has barred Ivanishvili from receiving, saying that ‘against the background of such personal blackmail, I find it wrong to meet with the ambassador and talk about state affairs’.

Arguing that the issues of sanctions and ‘blackmail’ made a meeting with Dunnigan too personal, Ivanishvili claimed that he had instead suggested that Dunnigan hold a meeting with Kobakhidze, but Dunnigan refused.

‘I hope that the US Embassy will respond positively to the Georgian government's offer to renew the Georgian-American strategic partnership from a clean slate and a specific guide’, Ivanishvili concluded.

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OC MediaYousef Bardouka