U.K. Ambassador Refutes GD Talks of “Second Front”
U.K. Ambassador to Georgia Gareth Ward has rejected claims by the country’s ruling party that the West has been trying to drag Georgia into Russia’s war with Ukraine and open a second front in the country. “That is simply not true,” he said, clarifying what Georgia was being asked to do instead was to ensure that sanctioned products do not pass through its territory and maintain financial and banking sanctions.
“What we ask for is to make sure that Georgia is not used as a transit point for battlefield goods,” Amb. Ward said, stressing that the country needs to “pay a lot of attention” to what products are passing through its territory to ensure that they do not include illicit or battlefield goods.
He added, “Does Georgia want to maintain its reputation as a very transparent and high-quality economy with clean financial flows or not?” noting: “Because the Russians will try to use all sorts of channels – banking channels, other trading channels to get out oil and gas products or money.” Ward added that Georgia, “like everyone else in the neighborhood”, has been asked to ensure that Russia cannot increase its revenues.
“I’ve had some cooperation from the Georgian government, I’ve seen cooperation from the Georgian government over the years on battlefield goods. But this is a wider issue – making sure that Russia cannot subvert our banking systems in order to profit and to continue its war efforts,” Amb. Ward added.
The British Ambassador made the remarks in Tbilisi on 24 February during a discussion at the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies (Rondeli Foundation).
Also Read:
- 23/01/2025 – UK Ambassador on Sanctions, Democracy, and Georgia’s Economic Future
- 08/01/2025 – GD Rails Against ‘Deep State’, ‘Global War Party’, Doubles Down on Conspirationism
- 19/12/2024 – UK Sanctions Senior Georgian Authorities, Including Minister of Interior
- 13/08/2024 – New British Ambassador Presents Copies of Credentials to Georgian Foreign Minister
- 08/08/2024 – “Omi Ginda?!” – Ruling Party Campaign Dares Georgians to “Vote for War”
- 24/03/2023 – PM Again Talks “Second Front” and Criticizes the Opposition
- 19/01/2023 – GD Chair Kobakhidze Talks “Second Front,” “Radical Opposition,” Lavrov’s Remarks
This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)