In recent days, the United States has sent strong signals to Georgia and Ukraine on its bipartisan support for their sovereignty and territorial integrity, with calls to elevate relations between the U.S., Georgia, and Ukraine growing.
In Congress and the administration, support for Georgia and Ukraine has been elevated to meet today’s challenges. On Tuesday, President Biden signed the massive FY 2022 $1.5 trillion omnibus spending package with $132 million made available for assistance for Georgia. The Government of Georgia is grateful for the continued assistance of the U.S. as Russian aggression continues.
The U.S. Helsinki Commission, an independent U.S. government agency tasked with promoting human rights and security in Europe, has called on the Biden administration to designate both Georgia and Ukraine as major non-NATO allies and increase U.S. Support for NATO accession for the two countries.
“Although the United States has consistently supported Ukraine’s and Georgia’s NATO membership, Russia’s occupations and ongoing invasion expose the tragedy of long-stalled Euro-Atlantic enlargement,” wrote the commission, which is led by Democratic Senator Ben Cardin and Democratic Representative Steve Cohen.
This development was proceeded by direct calls between Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia David Zalkaliani and U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Jeanne Shaheen. In the Foreign Minister’s call with Sen. Cardin, the two discussed regional security threats and Georgia’s bid for European Union membership. In his call with Sen. Shaheen, the two reaffirmed their support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and discussed regional issues including the situation in the occupied Georgian Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions.
In a tweet following the call, Senator Shaheen said that she “appreciated speaking” with the Georgian Foreign Minister, where she underscored the “strong bipartisan support for Georgia amid Russia’s war in Ukraine” and that “the U.S. supports its democratic aspirations.”