Day: February 17, 2026

Deterioration of Georgia–US relations

Former US ambassador to Georgia Ian Kelly has commented on Vice-President JD Vance’s visit to the South Caucasus, which did not include a stop in Georgia.

Kelly said there was nothing surprising about the vice-president’s decision not to travel to Tbilisi. He explained that the US still considers the Southern Gas Corridor important for trade between East and West, but not via Georgia.

JD Vance’s tour of the South Caucasus began on 9 February. The US vice-president first travelled to Armenia on an official visit with his wife Usha Vance and their children. On 10 February, he went on to Azerbaijan. Vance is the highest-ranking US official ever to visit Armenia. The previous visit by a senior American figure took place in September 2022, when then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi travelled to the country.

Ian Kelly: “A Georgian journalist asked why Vice-President Vance did not visit Tbilisi during his recent trip. My answer was this:

The Georgian Dream government has chosen to turn away from the West. During Trump’s first presidency, Secretary of State Pompeo urged Tbilisi to continue building the Anaklia deep-water port in partnership with a Western consortium, noting that China ‘does not care about Georgia’s interests’. What did Tbilisi do? It cancelled the Western contract and handed it to a consortium that included a Chinese side.

Prime Minister Kobakhidze also signed a strategic partnership agreement with China, while calling the United States ‘supporters of a global war’ and China ‘a model of peace and progress’.”

Opinion: ‘Vance’s visit to Armenia and Azerbaijan shows failure of Georgia’s foreign policy’

Gia Nodia: “Georgian Dream’s bet on Russia has proved mistaken”

“This is not the only example of a foreign policy shift. The government has also begun building ties with Iran. Kobakhidze and other officials visited Tehran, and Georgian representatives signed a condolence book for victims of what was described as ‘American aggression’.

It is no surprise that the vice-president avoided Tbilisi. The US still considers the Southern Corridor important for trade between East and West, but not through Tbilisi. Georgia’s government is no longer a reliable partner for Washington. Georgian Dream has made its choice, and now it will have to face the consequences.”

Deterioration of Georgia–US relations

A new European Union discussion paper on concessions Russia should make in Ukraine talks, seen by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, includes a demand that Moscow withdraw its troops from neighboring countries, including Georgia, as part of a broader settlement to end the war in Ukraine.

Titled European Core Interests in Ensuring a Comprehensive, Just and Lasting Peace and Continent’s Security, the paper calls for a “ban of Russian military presence and deployments in Belarus, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Georgia and Armenia,” RFE/RL Europe editor Rikard Jozwiak wrote in his weekly newsletter.

Russian forces have been stationed for decades in Georgia’s occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia), as well as in Transdniester in Moldova, Armenia, and Belarus.

The paper reportedly stresses that if Ukraine is expected to limit troop numbers or withdraw forces from some areas – as discussed in U.S.-mediated talks – Russia should do the same. It also says there should be no formal recognition of occupied Ukrainian territories, reflecting the EU’s long-standing non-recognition policy that also applies to Georgia’s occupied regions.

It further urges Russia to stop disinformation, sabotage, cyberattacks, airspace violations, and election interference in Europe and neighboring countries – issues that have often affected Georgia.

According to Jozwiak, EU High Representative Kaja Kallas has already shared the paper with member states. In addition to troop withdrawals, it calls on Russia to pay reparations and take steps toward democratizing its society. The bloc’s foreign ministers may discuss parts of the paper in Brussels on February 23.

Neither the EU nor individual European countries have taken part in the ongoing negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. The paper, however, emphasizes that there can be no peace or security “without the EU at the negotiating table and without taking into account [the] EU’s core interests.”

The two-day creative workshop “Heritage of Europe,” organized by the European Union jointly with the NGO Arts Council Azerbaijan, has concluded in Baku, AzerNEWS reports.