How Georgia's prime minister first crossed paths with Putin and how the country reacted

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze "went to the place where Georgia’s future is being decided and planned." This is how Giorgi Volski, Vice Speaker of the Georgian parliament, commented on the head of government’s recent trip.

Kobakhidze travelled to Ashgabat to attend the International Forum of Peace and Trust, held to mark the 30th anniversary of Turkmenistan’s neutrality.

A joint photograph showing Kobakhidze standing next to Vladimir Putin sparked a new wave of protests in Georgia.

It also fueled suspicions that the country may be moving towards restoring diplomatic relations with the state that occupies roughly 20 percent of Georgian territory.

Read more about the Georgian prime minister’s visit and its potential implications in the article by Amiran Khevtsuriani of the Georgian Technical University and Yurii Panchenko, European Pravda's editor: No longer enemies? How Georgia’s authorities took a step towards restoring relations with Russia.

To begin with, it is worth recalling that an absolute majority of Georgia’s population supports Euro-Atlantic integration, a goal explicitly enshrined in the country’s constitution.

Nevertheless, this did not prevent Georgia’s prime minister from attending a forum promoting the idea of neutrality held in a country that can hardly be described as democratic. The forum was attended largely by leaders of non-democratic states or countries where democratic institutions are under constant attack. The only EU leader present in Ashgabat was Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

At the same time, for the first time since the 2008 war, leaders of Georgia and Russia held a face-to-face meeting, triggering a highly ambivalent reaction both domestically and internationally.

In particular, the visit provoked what was described as a "storm of criticism" from the opposition or, more precisely, from the part of it that is not yet behind bars. Opposition figures interpret the move not merely as harmful to national interests, but as an attempt to definitively return Georgia to Russia’s sphere of influence.

Georgia’s authorities, for their part, have worked hard to present the meeting as entirely unremarkable.

Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said that "the presence of the Russian president in Turkmenistan is important, because the discussion will focus on the importance of peace, sovereignty, territorial integrity and international law."

He did not specify, however, whose sovereignty and territorial integrity were expected to be discussed with Putin.

Participation in a "neutrality forum" may itself signal that the ruling Georgian Dream party is seriously considering this option.

With little doubt remaining that, should Georgian Dream remain in power, Georgia’s prospects for European and Euro-Atlantic integration would be effectively nullified, it is possible that the government is beginning to view "neutrality" as an alternative to European integration.

This, however, would be a highly risky move, given that the majority of Georgian society does not even want to hear about such an option.

That said, Georgian Dream has repeatedly demonstrated a willingness to act against public opinion, particularly in a context where the next scheduled parliamentary elections are not due until October 2028.

Russia’s reaction was swift.

"We seek stable relations with Georgia. Tbilisi is demonstrating healthy pragmatism and a tendency toward a multi-vector foreign policy. Georgia has not joined the anti-Russian sanctions coalition and has refused to accept reckless, externally imposed scenarios of opening a ‘second front’ against Russia," said Mikhail Kalugin, Director of the Fourth CIS Department at Russia’s Foreign Ministry.

Against the backdrop of deteriorating relations with the EU, the Russian market is becoming increasingly crucial for Georgia.

And it appears that Moscow, fully aware of this reality, is no longer hiding its expectations: the time for half-measures is over, and Georgian Dream must decide which geopolitical camp it intends to belong to.