Georgian President Mikheil Kavelashvili has shared excerpts of the short unofficial meetings he had with US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the Winter Olympics in Milan, claiming both had expressed a desire for a reset in Georgia–US relations. Kavelashvili also said Vance and Rubio had blamed the administration of former President Joe Biden for the current poor state of bilateral ties.
Once the closest ally in the region, Georgia’s relations with the US have crumbled in recent years, although most observers would chalk the downfall more to the democratic backsliding under the ruling Georgian Dream party rather than specific policies imposed by Biden.
Since his election, Georgian Dream has openly courted US President Donald Trump and placed hope that their alleged shared ideology could help mend ties, but their efforts have yet to bear fruit. There have been no high-level meetings in the first year of Trump’s term, besides the informal talks Kavelashvili had with Vance and Rubio on 5 February in Italy.
‘Marco Rubio greeted me’, Kavelashvili told the pro-government media outlet Imedi.
‘Then a small, warm, sincere, and positive conversation took place with JD Vance [...] He mentioned our country very warmly and I was surprised how much the Vice President of America knew that we are a Christian country, a follower of traditions, he even mentioned the Patriarch [Ilia II]’.
Kavelashvili added that Vance had told him the US ‘will definitely try to renew relations with us’.
At a separate event in Milan the following day, Kavelashvili said he had a longer conversation with Rubio, during which Rubio laid the blame on Biden for poisoning relations with Georgia, which carried over to the current administration.
‘I don’t even want to use the word. It possibly cannot be translated directly from English, more like ‘filth [or stink]’ — that is how he [Rubio] described the great negativity the previous administration carried toward us. They themselves realise that this was unrealistic and inappropriate in relation to our country’.
Kavelashvili added that Rubio said the US is in ‘the process of cleaning up this negativity in our relations and in the near future they will definitely prepare properly for our relations to be established’.
Mikheil Gvadzabia
