Speaking to pro-government TV Imedi?s political program, Imedi?s Kvira, Kavelashvili said Rubio told him the previous U.S. administration left “clear negativity” toward Georgia and that the current administration under President Donald Trump is working to restart relations, amid Georgian Dream’s stated aim to renew ties “from a clean slate.”

?Marco Rubio greeted me,” Kavelashvili said on February 5 reception hosted by the International Olympic Committee. “Then a small, warm, sincere, and positive conversation took place with JD Vance.? He added that Vance spoke ?very warmly? about Georgia. ?I was surprised at how much he knew about us as a Christian country and a nation that follows its traditions,? he said.

“He even mentioned the Patriarch,” Kavelashvili said. “Then he added that they had just established the Prayer Day on May 17,” presumably referring to President Donald Trump’s announcement of Rededicate 250, a ceremony to “rededicate America as one nation under God.”

“We told him that exactly ten years ago, on May 17, and on the Patriarch’s initiative, Family Purity Day was declared in Georgia,” Kavelashvili said. Georgian Dream later established the religious holiday on May 17, which is observed on the same date as and against the International Day Against Homophobia.

He further quoted Vance as saying that, against the backdrop of other global developments, U.S. officials are “well informed about Georgia” and that “given that this warm conversation took place in this context, they will try to renew relations with us.”

Kavelashvili recalled a second day of meetings at a ceremonial reception hosted by the Italian president at the Presidential Palace. He said JD Vance greeted the Georgian delegation again, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio ?stayed with us a little longer, and the working conversation turned out to be more in-depth.?

According to Kavelashvili, Rubio said the current U.S. administration had inherited “a fairly large amount of negativity” toward Georgia from the previous administration.

?I don’t even want to use the word. It possibly cannot be translated directly from English, more like ?filth? ? that is how he [Rubio] described the great negativity the previous administration carried toward us. They themselves realize that this was unrealistic and inappropriate in relation to our country,” Kavelashvili said.

He added that, according to Rubio, the issue had been discussed “last Monday” and that U.S. officials are ?in the process of clearing this negativity in our relations? and will ?definitely prepare properly so that our relations can be established? in the near future.

Kavelashvili said the Georgian Dream?s position toward the U.S. remains “open,” adding that their message is one of wanting “normal, healthy relations, just as we have with our partners.” He also said Rubio mentioned the U.S. side may establish what he called a “technical working group” aimed at “making it possible to restart our relations from a clean slate in an analyzed regime.”

The alleged interaction comes amid lingering uncertainty over bilateral relations. The United States under President Joe Biden suspended the strategic partnership with Georgia in November 2024 and a month later, sanctioned GD founder and Honorary Chairman Bidzina Ivanishvili. Since then, Washington under President Donald Trump has remained largely silent toward Tbilisi, despite Georgian Dream’s claims of “shared values” and stated efforts to reset relations “from a clean slate.”

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