According to the Minister of Economy of Georgia, Levan Davitashvili, Russia is an occupier, and the Georgian government has no covert dealings with it. Davitashvili declared this at the session of the sectoral economy and economic policy committee in the parliament, where he was summoned for attending the Belt and Road Initiative forum in China along with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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According to Davitashvili, aside from Georgia, many EU countries are also members of this initiative.
“Georgia has been a part of this initiative since its conception, as well as, among others, the Russian Federation.
Now, if someone wants to present that the Georgian government is harming the interests of Georgia in any way and is in some kind of secret dialogue with Russia, I can say directly and unequivocally that this is not so. In the last 10 years, the Georgian Government conceded no grounds to Russia.
If we want to call a spade a spade and confront the topic of occupation, I can tell you that yes, Russia is an enemy, Russia is guilty, and we are not willing to make any compromises with Russia to the detriment of the interests of Georgia. On the contrary, we have a dialogue to serve the interests of Georgia as much as possible,” said Levan Davitashvili.
As for the participation in the forum held in China, according to Davitashvili, the Georgian delegation was in China at the personal invitation of President Xi Jinping, and “our attendance was a sign of respect for the Chinese state”.
“It would be completely irresponsible for us to ignore this invitation, based on the dynamics we have with China today in terms of, say, trade and economics,’’ the minister pointed out.
On October 18, a reception was held in China within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, which was also attended by Levan Davitashvili and Vladimir Putin. Released official footage of the event shows them listening to the speech of the President of China, Xi Jinping. Another video shows Levan Davitashvili and the Ambassador of Georgia to China Archil Kalandia sitting in the hall (in the second row) as Putin addresses the members of the forum. During the speech of the Russian president, several European officials demonstratively left the hall, including the Former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin.
It should be noted that Georgia and Russia agreed on a strategic partnership this year. The decision on this was made at the end of July, during Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili's visit to Beijing, when he met with Xi Jinping. After the meeting, the parties signed a bilateral cooperation plan within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative. Regarding Gharibashvili's visit to China, the then US ambassador to Georgia, Kelly Degnan, said that it is up to the Georgian government to decide what kind of relationship it wants with China, although she reminded the prime minister that several countries have already turned their backs on the Belt and Road Initiative. The American diplomat expressed hope that this decision will lead Georgia to positive results.
