On June 21, at the Qatar Economic Forum, the Georgian Prime Minister, Irakli Garibashvili said, "We are not naive; we are aware that Georgia has territorial issues, which we must resolve before joining NATO. This is an understanding of our European [partners] and NATO member countries.”
He emphasised the desire and determination of his administration to join the Alliance, but added that doing so depends on the consensus of all member nations, contending that this consensus cannot be achieved as long as Russia occupies Georgia's borders. While pointing out that more than 80% of Georgians favour Euro-Atlantic integration, Prime Minister asserted that the [ruling] Georgian Dream was crucial to the country's progress along the Euro-Atlantic route.
Garibashvili dodged the question of the moderator, Bloomberg’s John Micklethwait, on whether he trusted the Russian President Vladimir Putin. "We fought two battles in our breakaway territories in Abkhazia and [South] Ossetia in the 1990s when Georgia regained independence," he stated, adding that “and Russians at that time, 30 years ago, were assisting these separatist forces." Garibashvili further stated: "We battled against Russia three times over the previous 30 years, therefore our government’s aim is to restore territorial integrity and sovereignty through peaceful negotiations.”
He also claimed to have had no contacts with Putin on political topics since the Georgian Dream came to power. “Only commercial, trade relationship exists”, Prime Minister of Georgia concluded.
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