PM Kobakhidze Visits Armenia
On March 25, during his first official visit to Armenia as Georgia’s Prime Minister, Irakli Kobakhidze met with the President of Armenia, Vahagn Khachaturyan and the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan.
In addition to the one-on-one meeting between the Prime Ministers, negotiations continued in an expanded format involving representatives of both governments. Following the meeting, the Georgian and Armenian Prime Ministers held a joint briefing.
Prime Ministers Irakli Kobakhidze and Nikol Pashinyan also opened the new Georgian Embassy building in Yerevan.
Later PM Kobakhidze also laid a wreath at the memorial dedicated to the memory of the Armenians who died in 1915.
Meeting with Armenian President
During the meeting, the Prime Minister of Georgia and the President of Armenia “focused on the productive cooperation between the two countries across a variety of areas and their years-long good neighborly relations”, the Georgian Government Administration reported.
According to the President of Armenia, the parties discussed the bilateral “close friendship and opportunities for deepening economic and trade relations and prospects for further fostering our multi-dimensional cooperation based on strong historical ties and shared values”.
Among other issues, the parties also touched upon the regional developments, and efforts to ensure peace and stability in the South Caucasus.
Meeting between Prime Ministers
According to the Government Administration of Georgia, the Georgian and the Armenian counterparts discussed “the friendly and good neighborly” bilateral relations as well as the regional developments.
“Delighted to meet with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Armenia where we expressed our commitment to further bolster bilateral relations across various sectors,” Prime Minister Kobakhidze tweeted, adding that “in our discussions, we emphasized the importance of promoting regional cooperation for the mutual welfare and advancement of both Georgia and Armenia.”
“During the meeting, we underscored the significance of elevating our relations to a strategic level thus signaling our steadfast dedication to upholding stability, peace, and mutual respect.”
“Pleasure to welcome PM Kobakhidze in Yerevan. [We] discussed practical implementation of the joint declaration on the establishment of a strategic partnership between Armenia and Georgia. Agreed to develop our economic, trade, cultural relations. Touched upon topics of regional peace and stability,” PM Pashinyan tweeted.
Joint Press Briefing of the two Prime Ministers
At the briefing, the Prime Minister of Georgia thanked PM Pashinyan for hosting, and recalled the signing of the Strategic Partnership which according to him “elevated our cooperation to a qualitatively different level.”
PM Kobakhidze noted that Georgia “firmly supports” stability and peaceful coexistence in the South Caucasus region, and emphasized Georgia’s readiness to play a positive role in this regard.
The Georgian Prime Minister expressed hope that “the peace agreement process between Armenia and Azerbaijan will maintain positive dynamics and ultimately be crowned with a proper agreement.”
The Head of the Georgian Government also thanked Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan for supporting Georgia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, and reaffirmed Georgia’s “unwavering” support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Armenia. He also invited his Armenian counterpart to Georgia.
On his side, the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan welcomed Georgia’s EU candidacy, calling it “important event” that will have a direct impact not only on our region, but also on Armenia-Georgia bilateral relations. PM Pashinyan noted that Armenia supported and continues to support Georgia’s aspirations to join the European Union.
He also recalled the 13th session of the Intergovernmental Commission for Economic Cooperation convened in Tbilisi in January 2024, where the sides signed the declaration on Strategic Partnership. The Armenian Prime Minister said the parties had an opportunity to discuss the practical ways to implement these “ambitious” plans.
In this context, he noted “the unconditional recognition of each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty” which “is an essential element in that declaration.” According to the Armenian Prime Minister, the parties also discussed the possibilities of intensification of the demarcation process between Armenia and Georgia.
“The continuous deepening and expansion of cooperation with Georgia is of strategic importance not only from the point of view of bilateral relations between our countries, but also from the point of view of ensuring stability and mutually beneficial cooperation in the region,” the Armenian PM noted.
PM Pashinyan also informed his Georgian counterpart about the processes of the normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
This article was updated on 03/25/2024 at 23:18 to reflect the Georgian Prime Minister’s meeting with the Armenian President.
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