Georgia could either become America’s great success or a significant challenge in the Caucasus region tomorrow, Georgia’s fifth president, Salome Zurabishvili, stated in an interview with the American TV channel Fox News.

“[Meetings with future members of the Trump administration] were not official meetings; they were encounters during receptions held before the inauguration. The purpose was to bring Georgia to their attention and initiate first contacts. Georgia could become either a major success or a major problem for America in the Caucasus region, where Russia has always sought dominance. This has been a constant goal for the Russian empires, the Soviet Union, and now Russia.

Russia is testing a new strategy in countries like Georgia, as well as Romania, Moldova, and others, focusing on installing puppet regimes through manipulated elections rather than caring about democracy or constitutions. They simply want loyal regimes.

This will be a question for the next [U.S.] administration. Over the past 30 years, America has supported Georgia, making it one of the largest recipients of American aid due to its strategic importance—energy routes, trade routes, access to Central Asia, and its role as a bastion of democracy and shared values.

Georgia, along with Armenia—we say we are the oldest, and they claim they are the oldest—but both are among the oldest Christian states in the world, which strongly ties us together. We have been a stronghold of democracy in this wider region.

We need America, but I also believe America needs us,” Zurabishvili stated.