Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze, who is visiting United States, met yesterday with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. 

In his press remarks following the meeting with  Mamuka Bakhtadze, Mike Pompeo expressed hope that Georgia completes the Anaklia Deep Sea port project.  

“I communicated our hope that Georgia completes the port project. The project and others will enhance Georgia’s relationship with free economies and prevent Georgia from falling prey to Russian or Chinese economic influence. Those pretended friends do not have Georgia’s best interests at heart,” he said.

Former U.S. Ambassador to NATO, the U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations, the executive director of the McCain Institute, Kurt Volker thinks that Mike Pompeo wanted to stress the strategic importance of completing the Anaklaia Deep Sea Port project.

“Obviously there have been some disputes in Georgia over the development of the port, and I think Pompeo’s statement got it exactly right:  without taking a position on such disputes, he wanted to stress the strategic importance of completing the project, and doing so in a way that reinforces Georgia’s independence, rather than opening the door to greater Russian or Chinese influence over the country,” Kurt Volker told the Accent on Wednesday.

The Georgian Prime Minister started his U.S trip on June 5, holding meetings in San Francisco, Seattle, Canada and Washington D.C.. PM Bakhtadze will conclude his visit in Dallas on June 14.