U.S. Secretary of State Meets With Georgian Foreign Minister

The U.S. State Department photo.

While visiting Washington D.C. on the first of June, Georgian Foreign Minister, Salome Zourabichvili, met with the U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and had, as Colin Powell put it, “a good conversation discussing bilateral matters.”

“We discussed Adjara, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and we will stay in close consultations with the Georgian leaders and with our Russian colleagues,” the U.S. Secretary of State said at a news briefing after the talks with the Georgia Foreign Minister.

The issue of Russia’s two military bases still operating in Georgia was also discussed during the talks.

“Our position is clear. We believe that the bases should be removed. They no longer serve a real military purpose. But I am confident that in the months ahead, with continued goodwill on the part of all parties, we’ll find a way to move forward,” Colin Powell said.

“We stay in close touch with our Russian friends as well. And as I have said on a number of occasions, Georgia is a place where the United States and Russia can work together to assist the Georgians in building a stable democracy,” he added.

Colin Powell also said that the United States has “a close, warm, good relationship with Georgia at every level” and assured the visiting Foreign Minister that Washington will do everything “to build our relationship and take it to a higher level.”

Salome Zourabichvili thanked the United States for the support that Georgia has “received from our American friends and that has been very important for the Georgian population.”

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)