While attending an event marking Georgia’s Independence Day hosted by Georgian Ambassador to the U.S. Tamar Taliashvili on June 1 in the United States, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said that his presence was largely symbolic and reflected a desire to “warm up” relations between the two countries.

“It is a great honor for me to address you in this beautiful hall within the framework of this event, to congratulate the Georgian people on this historic date once again, and to say a few words about Georgian-American relations on behalf of myself, as well as the United States, President Trump, and Secretary of State Rubio,” Landau said.

The U.S. Deputy Secretary of State spoke about Georgia’s historical, cultural, and religious heritage, noting that Georgians and Americans share many common values.

“It is unfortunate that in recent years relations between our countries have not been as close as I would have wished, given the ties that otherwise connect us. I will be honest with you: I rarely attend national day celebrations. Over the past 15 months since I assumed office, I have attended only three such events. Therefore, when I do attend a national day celebration, it is essentially a symbolic gesture, reflecting our desire to warm relations,” he said.

Landau also responded to remarks by Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Giorgi Zurabashvili, stating that the event represented an opportunity to begin restoring relations between the two countries.

“I think this is a wonderful opportunity to begin restoring relations between our countries. As the Deputy Minister rightly noted, both Georgia and the United States want to pursue foreign policies based on national interests. I appreciate your remarks, which I interpreted as a gesture of friendship. I am here to shake your hand,” Landau said.

He further emphasized shared strategic interests between the two countries, particularly Georgia’s geopolitical location and regional developments.

“Georgia has an incredibly important strategic geographic position in the Caucasus, especially in light of the recent peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan. I believe this has created new economic opportunities in terms of regional integration. I have also visited Central Asia, and I see many opportunities there as well, considering the trade route stretching from India through Central Asia, crossing the Caucasus and connecting to Europe via the Black Sea.

I am very pleased that President Trump has given our administration the freedom to review relationships with various countries, some of which have been frozen for years. I believe there are valuable opportunities in this. Georgia is among those countries. Last week, we sent a delegation to Tbilisi, and I look forward with a positive outlook to continuing work with your government to find even more common ground - whether in economics, security, or politics.

Let us work in this direction, because I believe our two countries truly share many common interests. I hope my presence today is seen as a strong signal that we are genuinely interested in improving bilateral relations, not only for economic reasons, but because we believe it serves the interests of both our nations,” Landau said.