Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze had a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday. The call marked the highest-level talks between the US and Georgia in years and the first time a senior member of President Donald Trump’s administration has had an official meeting with the ruling Georgian Dream party since the beginning of Trump’s second term.
Once close allies, relations between Georgia and the US have sharply deteriorated amid the Georgian authorities’ adoption of restrictive laws, the disputed 2024 parliamentary elections, and police violence against anti-government demonstrators.
Washington has sanctioned a number of Georgian officials, including Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder and honorary chair of the ruling party. In November 2024, following Tbilisi’s decision to suspend the country’s EU membership bid, the US also halted its strategic partnership with Georgia.
Monday’s conversation between Kobakhidze and Rubio marked arguably the clearest sign to date that the freeze between Georgia and the US could be starting to thaw. While the initial high hopes that Georgian Dream openly stated ahead of Trump’s inauguration were then followed by disappointment at the lack of a real shift from Washington, Georgian Dream has continued to declare their desire for a reset on a regular basis.
Neither the Georgian nor US readout had many details on the conversation — including who had initiated it — but there were a few subtle differences.
Kobakhidze’s readout described the discussion as ‘productive’, and that the two had ‘emphasised the importance of resetting our partnership and reinforcing Georgia’s role as a strong partner in the South Caucasus. Committed to strengthening Georgia–US ties and advancing regional stability and connectivity [sentence fragment]’.
An earlier version of the Georgian readout, which said Kobakhidze and Rubio had ‘empathised’ about a reset, was later deleted.
In contrast, the US readout simply said Rubio and Kobakhidze had ‘discussed areas of mutual interest including security in the Caucasus and Black Sea region’, with no further details.
It is unclear if the conversation will herald any tangible changes if the US position towards Georgian Dream.
Questions about the meaning of the conversation were further raised after US federal documents were published on Monday, revealing that Trump had signed a continuation of Russia-related sanctions implemented under former President Joe Biden, which included the sanctions against Ivanishvili.
Yousef Bardouka
