Kelly Degnan: US Has Never Pressured Georgia to Join War
By Liza Mchedlidze
Friday, February 10, 2023
The US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan in an interview with 'Interpressnews', responded to the Georgian government's recent statements saying that international partners are pressuring the country to be involved in the Ukraine war. Degnan once again denied allegations and added that their discussion with Georgia was always about what is convenient for the country to help Ukraine as they understand the 'sensitive' nature of this situation.
As the ambassador noted, the United States of America has always been understanding and sensitive to the situation in Georgia, because 20% of the territory of this country is still occupied. According to Kelly Degnan, Georgia is in a comfortable position regarding the aid to Ukraine.
"Georgia has taken the position that is convenient for it regarding Russia's war against Ukraine. From the very beginning, we have understood and treated the fact that Georgia is in a sensitive situation, 20% of its territory is occupied. Our discussion with Georgia was always about what is convenient for Georgia to help Ukraine.
The government of Georgia knows very well that we never pressured Georgia to get involved in this war. The only discussion we have had regarding this issue is what kind of assistance would be comfortable for Georgia.
At stake here is Ukraine's ability to defend its identity, sovereignty and territory. The United States coordinated support to help Ukraine defend its identity, territory, and sovereignty. We have asked all our partners and allies to contribute as they see fit. This kind of misinformation is being spread by those who are trying to confuse Georgians and who are trying to further divide this country by those who are trying to undermine the longstanding partnership between Georgia and the United States of America.
The United States and its friends of Georgia have spent 30 years helping Georgia build a strong, independent country capable of making its own decisions, with its own identity and sovereignty. We want to help Georgia protect its identity, just as we are trying to help Ukraine," said Kelly Degnan.
The US Ambassador to Georgia said that Russia wants its partners to be weak and dependent. Degnan also discussed the country's work that has been done, in order to reduce its dependency on Russia, and said that the US has been helping Georgia to create a strong, independent state that has the ability to protect its own freedom and economy for 30 years.
According to Kelly Degnan, Lavrov has lost trust for a long time, although his statements made it clear what Russia wants.
"Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov does not enjoy much credibility. This has been the case for years, but this is a good example of what Russia wants. Russia wants weak and dependent partners. If you look around you will see who are Russia's partners, they are weak and dependent on Russia. What the United States of America has been creating together with Georgia for 30 years is a strong, independent state that has the ability to protect its own freedom and its own economy," the ambassador said.
According to Kelly Degnan, Georgia can access markets other than Russian and attract tourists from all over the world, not only from Russia. She said it is 'wrong' to say that Georgia is dependent on Russia.
"This is an excluded country. No one wants to get closer to Russia now. Georgia has spent years trying to reduce its dependence on Russia, be it energy or trade, and has made quite good progress in this regard. Georgia does not need Russia to sell its goods. There are many other markets that Georgia has successfully entered. Georgia also attracts tourists from all over the world. It is not dependent on Russian tourists, so it is wrong to think that Georgia is dependent on Russia.
It's not, and as I said before, this is something we've been working on together with another friend of Georgia to help Georgia reduce its dependence on a country like Russia, which only uses this to make the country weak, dependent on it, and use it against the country when it needs or wants. This is not the situation in which Georgia or any other country wants to be," said Kelly Degnan.
