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Front News Georgia
US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan says that Kyiv’s allegations over Tbilisi aiding Russian smuggling to circumvent sanctions are “very serious,” and that the issue should be clarified through governmental channels between the two countries.
Degnan stated today that any controversies between Georgia and Ukraine benefit Russian interests.
She also said that sanctions imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and an effective enforcement of the sanctions are critical to force Russia to stop the war.
“The Georgian government has said that it will not allow Georgia to be used to circumvent sanctions, and I think that is important. Some people say that no one can stop this war (Georgian PM Irakli Garibashvili said last week that no one has been able to stop the war so far). Mr. Putin started this war and he can end it,” Degnan said.
She stated that “this is a brutal, barbaric attack on a neighboring sovereign country.”
“Sanctions are designed to force Russia to end the war, and the unity in enforcing sanctions is critical to maintain that pressure. This is what makes sanctions such a powerful tool. So we are watching very closely that the sanctions regime remains a very strong, tight network that will put pressure on the Kremlin to end the war,” Degnan said.
Commenting on the statement of the Ukrainian FM Dmytro Kuleba, that Georgia should present evidence (and not Ukraine) that the country’s territory is not used by Russia for smuggling, Degnan said that “I think this is not an issue that should be discussed in front of the media. This is a very serious issue and it is necessary to use government channels to resolve it.”
Tbilisi has strongly dismissed the allegations, calling them “groundless and insulting”, also demanding Kyiv to present evidence for them.
