U.S. State Department Sums up Wess Mitchell’s Visit to Georgia

Heather Nauert, the Spokesperson of the U.S. Department of State, summed up the recent visit to Georgia of the Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs, Wess Mitchell.

In a press briefing on May 3, Heather Nauert said Mitchell met with senior Georgian officials, including the president and the prime minister “to talk about the strong bilateral relations, and Georgian democratic and economic reforms.”

“He reaffirmed the U.S. support to Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders. He also reiterated the U.S. stands by NATO’s 2008 Bucharest [Summit] Declaration that Georgia will become a member of NATO,” Nauert said.

She further underscored that during his visit, Wess Mitchell also traveled to “the administrative boundary line with the Russian occupied Georgian territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia,” which Nauert added, “are currently occupied by Russian forces in violation of the 2008 ceasefire agreement.”

Wess Mitchell visited Georgia on April 29-May 1 as part of his diplomatic tour in Europe, for the first time in his new, official role as Assistant Secretary. On April 30, he addressed the participants of the NATO-Georgia Public Diplomacy Forum in Tbilisi.

In Tbilisi, Mitchell also met separately with President Giorgi Margvelashvili, Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili, Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze, Parliament Chairman Irakli Kobakhidze and opposition leaders to discuss deepening of the bilateral cooperation.

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