The United States remains as firm as in previous years in supporting Georgia’s security, Parliamentary Chairman, Davit Bakradze, said after meeting with Philip H. Gordon, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, in Tbilisi on June 10.

“We discussed all those issues, which traditionally top the agenda of relations between Georgia and the United States. We’ve heard an absolutely firm position on behalf of the new U.S. administration that support of Georgia will continue, support of Georgia’s security will continue, the policy of non-recognition of occupied territories will continue,” Bakradze said.  

“Naturally, we discussed the Georgian-Russian relations and security problems and I can reiterate what we have heard on behalf of the new U.S. administration that the support towards Georgia and towards Georgia’s security will be as firm as it was during previous years. Mr. Gordon was absolutely open and absolutely firm in that message, which he brought from Washington.”

“We also spoke about NATO membership and rapprochement with the European Union. The U.S. position is that the United States will continue to support Georgia’s European and Euro-Atlantic integration process,” Bakradze continued.

“Naturally, we talked about Georgia’s internal politics and I can say that Mr. Gordon expressed a clear-cut position that the United States supports all those reforms which are ongoing in the country and also supports processes to develop within the peaceful dialogue,” he said.

Bakradze also said that presence of OSCE and UN observer missions in Georgia was raised during the meeting.

“We informed our partners and received consent from them that it is impossible to legitimize occupation, it is impossible to legalize those steps which Russia is taking in the occupied territories. Although both we and the United States are interested in prolongation of the OSCE mission and we are interested in prolongation of UN mission, we both have a common red line at the expense of which these missions will not continue. This common red line is Georgia’s territorial integrity and this common red line is unacceptability of what Russia is carrying out in the conflict regions,”

Lawmakers from ruling party, Davit Darchiashvili, who chairs parliamentary committee for European integration and Akaki Minashvili, chairman of the parliamentary committee for foreign affairs Gigi Tsereteli, the vice-speaker of the parliament, participated in the same meeting. Two lawmakers from the parliamentary minority group, Paata Davitaia and Gia Tortladze, also attended the meeting.

The U.S. diplomat will also meet separately with leader of the parliamentary minority group and of Christian-Democratic Movement, Giorgi Targamadze and leaders of non-parliamentary opposition.