In a rare written public statement, Bidzina Ivanishvili, former PM and oligarch still believed to be the Georgian Government’s main decision-maker, essentially backed speculations that the United States and its Ambassador to Georgia were in one way or another pushing Georgia into a war with Russia.
Ivanishvili said he mad Ambassador Kelly Degnan upon her request on March 21 and implied the meeting’s context was exactly about this. “Certain forces actively tried to drag Georgia into the war, and this desire and goal of theirs, unfortunately, is still relevant today,” he wrote while praising Georgian Dream for “overcoming the main difficulty of the first stage of the threat of war.”
The statement came following a campaign by three MPs who recently split from Georgian Dream but remained ardently pro-Ivanishvili that it was personally Ambassador Degnan who had been trying to push Ivanishvili into attacking Russia.
Dimitri Khundadze, Mikheil Kavelashvili and Sozar Subari consistently advanced the outlandish theory and demanded explanations from Ambassador Degnan, particularly whether she had indeed met Mr Ivanishvili.
By publicizing the March 21 meeting which Ambassador Degnan confirmed but described as “private” Ivanishvili indirectly legitimated the claims not least because he did not in any way deny that the United States had not been involved in any such efforts.
Commenting on the letter, Ambassador Degnan again flatly denied any insinuations that the US Government undertook any efforts to drag Georgia into war.
“Let me say it very clearly so that no one has any more questions – there was never any talk about Georgia’s involvement in Russia’s war against Ukraine or about ‘blackmail’ or actions related to delaying the transfer of money to Mr. Ivanishvili,” she said.
“Our meetings have always been about the U.S.-Georgia strategic partnership and U.S. efforts to support the development of Georgia’s economy, security, and democracy,” the Ambassador added.
Ivanishvili also hinted his ongoing problems with Credit Suisse bank may be linked with processes in Georgia but did not go into further detail.
Both Georgian Dream leaders as well as pro-Ivanishvili MPs who had recently left GD praised his letter as “patriotic” and “visionary.”
GD chair, Irakli Kobakhidze said the statement “contains very important information and messages.”
“We have often talked about this topic, there was a serious risk of involvement in the war… There were specific parties, politicians, CSOs, it was the Ukrainian government represented almost in its entirety, and these were lobbyists of political opponents who were directly involved in the war-mongering campaign,” Kobakhidze said.
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