UNM leaders: US interest in South Caucasus growing

Levan Sanikidze, one of the leaders of Georgia’s opposition United National Movement (UNM), has said that recent meetings held by the party’s delegation in Washington showed that US interest in the South Caucasus was increasing - and that alleged attempts by ruling party founder Bidzina Ivanishvili to push Georgia off the American agenda would fail.

“Our meetings in Washington confirm that interest in the South Caucasus has grown - Ivanishvili’s attempts to remove Georgia from America’s radar will never succeed,” Sanikidze said. “On the contrary, attention to the Black Sea region is increasing, and the end of his criminal Russian regime is inevitable.”

Sanikidze noted that the UNM delegation had held several “important and key meetings” in the US Senate, stressing that American support was “critical” for Georgia and the wider democratic community. He linked the renewed focus on the region to the recent peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, brokered by the administration of the United States’ 47th president.

He added that UNM representatives were providing US partners with additional information about Ivanishvili’s alleged ties to Iran and China, which he said would contribute to ending what he described as Ivanishvili’s “criminal Russian regime.”