“The meetings held in Georgia reflect the breadth and depth of partnership and strong cooperation that we have with the Georgian government and the Georgian people,” said Head of the US State Department’s Office of Sanctions Coordination Jim O’Brien at the press conference at the British Embassy in Tbilisi.
“We are here to continue the close cooperation our authorities have with the Georgian authorities, to build on cooperation, especially with front-line agencies responsible for making sure that the Russian war machine does not have the equipment it needs to continue the invasion of Ukraine.
We met over the last day and a half with representatives of the government, the Prime Minister, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Economy, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the agencies that are responsible for enforcing the Georgian law.
We also met with representatives of the Georgian and international business communities. We met with President, we are meeting with civil society and with our partner governments in the G7. This roster of meetings reflects the breadth and depth of partnership and strong cooperation that we have with the Georgian government and the Georgian people in the current courses. Let me say a word about why this effort is needed, especially from the Georgian authorities,” he said.
According to Jim O’Brien, the purpose of sanctions imposed on Russia is to prevent Russia from getting the equipment and items it uses on the battlefield to kill people as part of its illegal and further invasion of Ukraine.
“Our job is to help to keep the Russian military from getting the equipment it uses to kill people as part of its illegal and further invasion. The UK, the EU, and the US have come together to focus especially on a limited number of electronic items that are used on the battlefield.
And our cooperation with Georgia is focused overwhelmingly on just those items. Ambassador Iyer will describe how we see the patterns changing in trade, but I would like to emphasize we are not trying to stop all business and trade.
We do not sanction Russian food, fertilizers, or some other basic commodities. We encourage those to reach the global market and important trade partners. So, as net trade continues, we want to be sure, and we remain focused, with our main partners, on things that matter on the battlefield.
I think this has been a good couple of days of discussion on those topics, part of the ongoing very strong partnership we have to work on just those things that matter on the battlefield,” he said.
