Georgian, Moldovan, Ukrainian FMs Meet Senior U.S. Officials
Foreign Ministers of Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine held a joint meeting with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other senior U.S. officials in New York on the sideline of the UN General Assembly.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry said that Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili, his Moldovan and Ukrainian counterparts, Natalia Gherman and Pavlo Klimkin, respectively, discussed with the senior U.S. officials “security challenges and regional cooperation.”
“Discussions also focused on the enhancement of co-operation between the three [EU’s] Eastern Partnership countries, including sharing each other’s experience in the process of the European and Euro-Atlantic integration and successful implementation of reforms,” the Georgian Foreign Ministry said.
Charles Kupchan, the Director of European Affairs at the National Security Council and newly appointed U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs, Bridget Brink, who served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi in 2011-2014, also participated in the meeting.
Valuable discussion on regional efforts to protect sovereignty, promote security, & confront corruption.
— Antony Blinken (@ABlinken) September 29, 2015
The Georgian Foreign Ministry said that while discussing security challenges, Minister Kvirikashvili “focused on the creeping annexation and occupation of the Georgian territories by the Russian Federation and thanked the United States for unequivocal support of Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Kvirikashvili is accompanying Georgian PM Irakli Garibashvili in New York for the UN General Assembly.
PM Garibashvili met his Moldovan counterpart Valeriu Streleț on September 28 and discussed “the need to deepen bilateral cooperation,” the Georgian PM’s office said, adding that Garibashvili plans to visit Chisinau this year.
The Georgian PM also met with the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland.
In other bilateral meetings on the sideline of the UN General Assembly, the Georgian PM also held talks with his counterparts from Turkey; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, as well as Presidents of Guyana, Togo, and Vice President of Equatorial Guinea.
He will address the UN General Assembly on October 1.
Foreign Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili has held bilateral meetings at the UN with his counterparts from over two dozen of countries, including Portugal; Kyrgyzstan; Senegal; Nigeria; Sierra Leone; Ghana; Greece; Lithuania; Central African Republic; United Arab Emirates; Armenia; Azerbaijan; Norway; Serbia; Burundi; Trinidad and Tobago; Saint Lucia; Afghanistan; Latvia; Belarus; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Bahrain; Tonga; Fiji; Botswana; Gabon; Cape Verde and Dominican Republic. He also addressed a meeting of foreign ministers of the Caribbean countries.
