Kelly Degnan on flight resumption between Georgia and Russia and Buk Missile systems
By Liza Mchedlidze
Monday, January 23, 2023
US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan answered some questions from reporters. When asked about Sergey Lavrov's statement regarding the resumption of direct flights between Georgia and Russia, she responded with "Georgians would prefer Russia to withdraw its forces from Abkhazia and Tskhinvali and fulfill the 2008 ceasefire agreement, I think most, rather than restore direct flights to Moscow."
Kelly Degnan said that according to Georgian history, Russia has been violating the identity, language, independence, and sovereignty of the country for centuries.
"As far as I learned from the history of Georgia, this is a country for which Russia has been violating the conditions given to it for centuries. Russia is trying to take away Georgia's identity, language, independence, sovereignty. I think most Georgians would prefer Russia to withdraw its troops from Abkhazia and Tskhinvali and implement the 2008 ceasefire agreement rather than resume direct flights. I don't know whether Georgians living in Russia have a problem returning to Georgia if they want to, but we know for sure that a lot of Russians are coming to Georgia," the US ambassador said.
US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan was also asked regarding the statement of the Chargé d'Affaires of Ukraine in Georgia Andrei Kasyanov, who said that Ukraine appealed to the authorities of Georgia with a request to return the Buk missile systems handed over during the 2008 war, to which she responded that they have been encouraging both Georgia and Ukraine to discuss important issues privately, not publicly, and she continues to do so.
"The US has asked all its partners and allies to see what they can do to support Ukraine, and Georgia has done a lot, especially from a humanitarian point of view, by voting in an international forum. It is important for each country to decide what is convenient for them to do. I think everyone is very well aware of the sensitive situation Georgia is in, because 20 percent of your territory is occupied by Russia. Such is the context, and we once again call on Georgia and Ukraine to discuss this issue personally," said Kelly Degnan.
