Irakli Kirtskhalia, Deputy Chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) parliamentary faction, declared that potential US sanctions against Bidzina Ivanishvili, the party’s founder and honorary chairman, will not intimidate him or his team. Speaking about the possibility of sanctions, the MP emphasized that neither Ivanishvili nor the ruling party could be pressured through threats or sanctions to change their “peace policy.”
“They can no longer talk to us, or to Bidzina Ivanishvili, in the language of threats and sanctions. It’s impossible. Sanctions will not force us to abandon the peace policy that has guided our country through the global and regional turmoil,” Kirtskhalia said.
He also referred to Ivanishvili’s earlier claim that he has been informally sanctioned since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war.
“One week after the war started, Bidzina Ivanishvili was informally sanctioned. He has had no access to his assets for three years now, but this is not a tool to scare him or to push him into any kind of betrayal,” Kirtskhalia remarked.
The MP further argued that any formal sanctions would be another form of direct pressure on Ivanishvili, his team, and Georgia as a whole. However, he reiterated that such tactics are ineffective and that Georgia will not be drawn into any military conflict.
“If these sanctions are formalized, it will be another message to the Georgian public showing the direct interference and pressure on Ivanishvili, his team, and our country. But no sanctions will scare Bidzina Ivanishvili or any member of our team. It is futile to speak to us in the language of sanctions,” the majority member said.
He recalled Ivanishvili’s clear stance against involving Georgia in war, referencing a speech Ivanishvili gave at a regional meeting in Rustavi in which he vowed to prevent chaos and conflict in the country.
“We all remember when Bidzina Ivanishvili said at the last regional meeting in Rustavi that he, together with his team, would never allow Georgia to fall into chaos or experience the bombing that some opposition figures seemed to desire,” Kirtskhalia concluded.
