The reelection of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump would help the "(full-scale) war in Ukraine end sooner," Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said in comments published on July 22.
The ruling Georgian Dream party under Kobakhidze has bucked the country's constitutionally enshrined goal of Western integration, and has instead sought common ground with isolationist forces in Europe and the U.S. Georgian Dream has also been accused of seeking rapprochement with Russia.
Kobakhidze and his predecessor, Irakli Garibashvili, attracted controversy for speaking at the U.S.-based Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) alongside Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and other right-wing leaders in 2023 and 2024.
The impact of Trump's potential reelection will also cause "our region (to) calm down sooner, which will change the attitude towards Georgia as well," Kobakhidze claimed. It was unclear if he meant the Caucasus region or the wider area.
"If there will be peace in the region, the attitude towards Georgia will also change, this is the only thing that can be said in this regard, the rest is the choice of the American people, the American people should decide who will be the president of the U.S.," Kobakhidze said.
On the campaign trail, Trump has repeatedly touted a plan to bring the war to an immediate end if he wins in November. The plan reportedly involves ceding territory to Russia, though Trump has provided minimal details on the specifics of his proposal.
Trump will run alongside his vice presidential running mate, Senator JD Vance, who is thought to be an even more outspoken opponent of U.S. support for Ukraine, and has openly endorsed territorial concessions as part of a potential peace deal.
Separately, Kobakhidze said there were no "active" talks about NATO enlargement to either Georgia or Ukraine, which have both aspired to join the alliance.
"When the situation in the region changes, when the situation calms down, the general conditions there may also change, but today there is no active talk on the part of NATO about enlargement, which has specific reasons," he added.
Sonya Bandouil
(Updated: )
