US, NATO for peaceful, stable Georgia, Russians behind second front narrative – US NATO envoy

Julianne Smith, the United States envoy to NATO, on Monday said her country and the alliance had “always backed” Georgia’s “peaceful and stable development”, claiming the alternative narrative on opening the second front in Georgia on the backdrop of Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine, had been developed in the Kremlin. 

 

The comment came following a rally in Tbilisi on Sunday organized by pro-governmental politicians and groups, accusing the west of “forcing” the country’s authorities to “drag Georgia” in the conflict. 

 

“I hope the Georgian people will unite and reject the Russian counter-narrative about the second front with a united effort. It is desirable that the Georgian people and political parties unite. This unity is our strongest point, including in repelling the Russian false narrative”, the diplomat said. 

 

The Georgian authorities have been claiming over months it had “saved” the country from “turning into the battlefield”, noting Georgia’s “so-called friends” had sent the currently imprisoned former president Mikheil Saaakshvili in Georgia from Ukraine in September 2021 to organize a coup and then “drag” Georgia in the ongoing war.