Kelly Degnan, the U.S. Ambassador to Georgia, told the journalists on Thursday, March 17, that Georgia has always been a good partner in complying with international sanctions.
Degnan said there was no expectation for Georgia to come up with bilateral measures after the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine in her statements to the media about the Georgian Government’s decision not to join the sanctions against Russia.
Moreover, the Ambassador stated, “bilateral sanctions is up to Georgia’s Government to decide. What is expected of every country is that standing against this Russian aggression will be in compliance with the global sanctions regime. Georgia has always been a reliable partner in enforcing international sanctions.”
She also emphasised the need of understanding that Georgia, like the majority of other countries, will comply with UN sanctions to an extent it could be possible.
The important thing is that we’re all delivering a consistent message of support to Ukraine, and one of the ways to do so is complying with the international sanctions regime,” Degnan said.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the leader of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party, warned on Wednesday that economic sanctions would not be able to “hurt” Russia but would instead “hit” Georgia and its people the hardest.
Earlier in March, Kelly Degnan, has also lauded the people of Georgia’s “overwhelming generosity” towards Ukrainians in the face of the Russian invasion of the country which began on February 24, adding that Georgians “know what it’s like to be at war and to be assaulted for no reason.”
She also hailed Georgia for being “very outspoken” at various multilateral forums, including the United Nations, Council of Europe, and OSCE in support of Ukraine, stating all of our countries need to come together and show our support for Ukraine in all the possible ways.”
