August 9, 2025 - The South Caucasus News - SouthCaucasusNews.com

The signing of a U.S.-brokered historic peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan at the White House on August 8 resonated in Tbilisi, drawing praise from both Georgian Dream authorities and opposition figures, but also quite unease among GD critics who fear another missed opportunity for their country.

Leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan, two South Caucasus nations with a long history of conflict, posed cheerfully at the White House last night alongside U.S. President Donald J. Trump, holding the signed ‘historic’ peace accord, hailed as a step toward improved bilateral relations and a potential geopolitical game-changer for the region.

The deal, however, comes amid Tbilisi’s growing international isolation under the Georgian Dream government, whose anti-democratic turn has eroded once-close ties with the U.S. and EU. It also follows intensified exchanges, including official visits, of GD officials with Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Central Asian countries, in the hope of boosting Georgia’s role in regional connectivity and as part of the Middle Corridor project linking Europe with Asia.

While some opposition figures viewed the accords as an opportunity for Georgia and a sign of continued Western engagement in the region, many pro-Western Georgians voiced parallel unease on social media, fearing the country is once again missing a chance to distance itself from Russian influence.

Civil.ge has compiled key reactions from Georgian Dream authorities and opposition to the historic deal:

Georgian Dream Government

Irakli Kobakhidze, Georgian Dream Prime Minister: “Georgia welcomes this historic moment for Armenia, Azerbaijan, the region and entire world! Congratulating [President Donald Trump, President Ilham Aliyev, and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan] on this success — closing a landmark peace deal and opening a new era of stability and economic development in the region. Georgia has always stood for regional peace and cooperation — and will continue to support it unwaveringly.”

Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Georgian MFA said it “welcomes” the August 8, 2025 peace accords, noting: “This historic accord represents a crucial step towards making sustainable peace in the South Caucasus region, paving the way for the opportunities of long-term and stable development of the region. Georgia firmly supports peace reinforcement and strengthening of cooperation in the region, which will be directed at the stability and prosperity of the South Caucasus region. We particularly welcome the distinguished role and efforts by the United States of America and, personally, President Donald Trump in ending the decades-long protracted conflict in the South Caucasus. We hope that this historic event will have a chain reaction effect in terms of the peaceful resolution of conflicts in the Black Sea region and the world as a whole.”

Opposition

Salome Zurabishvili, Georgia’s Fifth President: “[President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, President Ilham Aliyev] – Your success is a success for peace and progress in the Caucasus. Georgians know the value of peace and independence and value this big achievement after decades of Russia preventing it.”

Giorgi Gakharia, Former PM, Leader of For Georgia party: “Congratulations to our friends and neighbours, Armenia and Azerbaijan, and their leaders President Aliyev and Prime Minister Pashinyan, on choosing peace and opening a new chapter for the South Caucasus. With President Trump’s leadership, the U.S. has once again proven its ability to deliver peace and stability in the region. Georgia should have been an active architect of this new regional reality, shaping peace, driving connectivity, and securing our shared future with allies, but the pro-Russian Georgian Dream has left the country isolated from progress and prosperity. Nevertheless, Georgia will inevitably take its rightful, geostrategic place in shaping the region’s future within President Trump’s peace and prosperity project for the South Caucasus.”

Tamar Chergoleishvili, Leader of the Federalist party: “What is happening in Washington is great for Georgia. This makes Georgia more interesting for America. But America won’t do what we are supposed to do. It’s us who have to change the regime. And strengthening of the American interest in the region will help us in that.”

This post will be updated once more reactions come in…

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