“I believe we are leaving the new administration a very firm policy on Georgia,” said Michael Carpenter, Senior Director for Europe on the US National Security Council, in an interview with Voice of America.
He claimed that, ultimately, it is clear that the fate of Georgia is for the Georgian people to decide.
“I think we are leaving the new administration with a very firm policy. We have frozen all forms of aid—more than $95 billion in support for Georgia—we have sanctioned many officials of the Georgian government for their involvement in anti-democratic actions, which involved the repression of protests and civil society. We have sanctioned the leading architects of these repressions, including Bidzina Ivanishvili, who is one of the main decision-makers in Georgia, not only on domestic matters but also on its foreign policy, which increasingly resembles the foreign policies of Russia and China. So, we have passed on to the new team a situation with a very diverse set of actions from this administration. Ultimately, of course, the fate of Georgia is for the Georgian people to decide,” Carpenter stated.