Georgia’s Accuses West of Pressuring Tbilisi to Open Front Against Russia

Georgian President Mikheil Kavelashvili claimed in a recent interview that Western nations and Ukraine pressured Georgia to open a “second front” against Russia following the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Speaking to Spanish newspaper El Mundo, Kavelashvili said that Ukrainian officials urged Tbilisi to launch military action to retake Abkhazia and South Ossetia—two breakaway territories that Georgia attempted to reclaim in the 2008 war with Russia. Both regions host Russian military bases and remain a source of unresolved conflict since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Kavelashvili alleged that Ukrainian officials told Georgian counterparts that “Russia was losing the war” and that it was the “perfect moment” for Georgia to strike. According to him, when Georgia declined to act, Western governments began pushing the country to send weapons and volunteers to Ukraine and to impose sanctions on Russia—requests the Georgian government also rejected in favor of neutrality.

The president went further, accusing the West of funding non-governmental organizations (NGOs), media outlets, and opposition parties in an attempt to destabilize or overthrow the government, which has been led by the Georgian Dream party since 2012. Kavelashvili claimed this was part of a broader strategy to pressure Tbilisi into abandoning its pragmatic stance toward Moscow.

He linked these efforts to the recent implementation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), which came into force on Sunday. The law, a stricter version of the earlier 2024 Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence, requires NGOs, media outlets, political parties, and individuals receiving more than 20% of their funding from foreign sources to register as foreign agents or face steep fines and potential prison sentences.

While the law has drawn criticism from Western governments and human rights groups, Kavelashvili defended it, asserting it was necessary to protect Georgia’s sovereignty. He also claimed that the original 2024 legislation had already yielded results, noting a marked decline in the scale and organization of anti-government protests since its enactment.

Kavelashvili, a member of the Georgian Dream party, was elected by Parliament in December under new rules eliminating direct presidential elections. He replaced former President Salome Zourabichvili, a French-born politician who frequently clashed with the ruling party, supported anti-government demonstrations, and left the country—though she continues to claim the presidency.