Georgian PM backs Trump after fractious Zelenskyi White House meeting

Following Friday’s remarkable showdown between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi and US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said he wished ‘strength and courage in [Trump’s] difficult battle’ against the ‘global war party’ and ‘deep state’.

The White House meeting, which was originally intended to be an opportunity for Zelenskyi to sign a deal granting the US access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals, turned into a shouting match that was captured on camera.

After Zelenskyi noted that Trump’s diplomatic efforts during his first term had not stopped Russian occupation of Ukrainian territory, Trump and Vance both berated the Ukrainian president, accusing him of being disrespectful and ungrateful for US support. Zelenskyi and the Ukrainian delegation then left the White House without signing the deal.

The highly public shouting match crystallised fears from supporters of Ukraine across the West, who have increasingly argued in recent weeks that Trump is abandoning Ukraine and openly siding with Russia. It also led to an outpouring of support from EU leaders, as well as Georgia’s fifth President Salome Zourabichvili.

Kobakhidze took a different approach, arguing that the ‘a clear line was drawn between the war party and the peace party’, highlighting the ‘the subsequent reactions to this debate [between Trump and Zelenskyi].

‘President Trump and his peace efforts were condemned one after another by people responsible for allowing a bloody war and callously sacrificing Ukraine and the lives of thousands of Ukrainians’, he wrote on X.

‘Yesterday, the line was once again drawn between those forces who seek peace and care about the fate of Ukrainians, and those who want to fight until the last Ukrainian. It also became clear that the global war party and the deep state will not easily let go of the war’.

Kobakhidze also criticised the negative reactions to Trump and Vance’s verbal attack on Zelenskyi, singling out US Senator Jeanne Shaheen, one of the most outspoken critics of Georgian Dream, as well ‘numerous officials from Brussels’ and the ‘leaders of the Georgian radical opposition’.

The sentiment was echoed by Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze, who said ‘yesterday, Trump once again clearly emphasised who wants war and who wants peace’.

He also drew particular attention to the reactions to the meeting, saying they illustrated ‘that there is a global war party that wants to wage war in different countries of the world’.

Georgian Dream officials have routinely referenced the threat of the so-called ‘global war party’ and ‘deep state’, two nebulous terms for shadowy forces the ruling party claims have been trying to pull Georgia into war and overthrow the government. Trump has also regularly mentioned his own fight against the domestic deep state, which is typically thought to refer to career federal employees and diplomats.

Zourabichvili and other opposition figures from the Caucasus emphasise support for Ukraine

In her own reactions, Zourabichvili tagged Zelenskyi on X and wrote, ‘Those that understand what it means to have to defend one’s territory, independence and freedom - not once but repeatedly over the past two centuries- are siding with you Mr. President’.

She also took a shot at Trump, saying ‘Not sure that this is a demonstration of America First […] looks more like America seconding Putin’s Russia. At a time when we all need a strong America together with a stronger Europe. It seems we are finally seeing the latter emerge!’.

In a reply to former French diplomat Gérard Araud, Zourabichvili criticised a reporter’s ‘mocking’ question posed to Zelenskyi about why he wasn’t wearing a suit, and praised the Ukrainian president for not conceding his position and garnering support from EU leaders.

Elene Khoshtaria, one of the leaders of the opposition Coalition for Change group, also showed her support for Zelenskyi.

Azerbaijani opposition leader Ilgar Mammadov said Trump’s caustic approach to Zelenskyi ‘will only embolden [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’.

Ali Karimli, another Azerbaijani opposition politician, also voiced support for Zelenskyi and urged the EU to do more to ‘fully embrace Ukraine’.

As of the time of this writing, neither Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan nor Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev have publicly commented on the White House meeting.

Mixed reactions in the Caucasus on third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine

Large protests were held in Tbilisi in support of Ukraine, as well as a smaller gathering in Yerevan. No protests were reported in Baku.

OC MediaNate Ostiller