My meeting with the Deputy Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Mr. Hanrahan, has just concluded. The meeting took place in a very friendly atmosphere. We discussed many issues of mutual interest, including the value alignment that our government shares with the new U.S. administration,” stated the Chairman of the Parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee, Nikoloz Samkharadze, following his meeting with Brendan Hanrahan, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.

According to Samkharadze, in addition to other topics, the meeting addressed a new strategic partnership agreement between Georgia and the United States, which will be oriented toward mutual benefit.

In Samkharadze’s assessment, they had a “very interesting and productive discussion” and will continue active discussions on these issues in the future.

“We talked about Georgia’s security challenges and the threats stemming from occupation. We focused attention on the ongoing developments in the region and what impact these developments have on Georgia’s security. We discussed issues related to the development of the Middle Corridor, including the Trump route, and noted that we welcome the implementation of the Trump route, as we consider it not an alternative to the Middle Corridor and Georgia’s route - on the contrary, it is a complementary factor. We also discussed investments by American companies in Georgia, and most importantly, we talked about a new strategic partnership agreement. We confirmed our readiness to begin work on a new agreement that will be directed toward achieving mutual benefits, and we identified many topics that will make this partnership even stronger. Accordingly, I can say that we had a very interesting and productive discussion, and we will continue to actively discuss these issues in the future,” Samkharadze noted.