“Our support for Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine is not part of some zero-sum game with Russia. Our engagement rather is aimed at supporting the people of these countries as they seek to fulfill their aspirations and make their own choices about their countries’ economic and political futures. Now they’ve chosen a European path, but we do not believe that the decision of these countries to pursue a European path should preclude them from having productive relations with Moscow, a point that we have made to Russian counterparts up and down the chain of command,” U.S. senior administration officials said after a meeting of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden with the Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili, IPN reports.
Next Monday, March 3, the Vice President will also be meeting with Moldovan Prime Minister Iurie Leanca. According to the transcript of the teleconference of the senior administration officials, Moldova also has the strong and steadfast support of the United States as it undertakes the challenges faced from working towards a comprehensive settlement to end the frozen conflict on its territory, to continuing the hard work of building a modern and democratic state. The United States would also like to see a comprehensive settlement to the Transnistrian conflict and gives its full support to the OSCE “5-plus-2” negotiations.
The U.S. officials said the fact that Moldova also initialed an association agreement with the EU in November represents a choice the Moldovan people have made to move their country forward. The association agreement includes a free trade agreement, which when signed and ratified will offer Moldova significant economic opportunity through greater access to one of the world’s largest markets. And that won’t just benefit Moldova but the region as a whole.
The participants in the conference also said that Moldova and Georgia have both chosen to take steps along the path of Euro-Atlantic integration with association agreements. The people of Ukraine obviously have made their voices heard loud and clear about the kind of future that they are looking for. “So the position of the United States has been consistent and clear that we don’t believe that any country -- the United States, any European country, or Russia -- can dictate the future of these nations in Eastern Europe and the Caucuses. It is up for the people of these countries through the democratic process to make their own decisions,” said a U.S. official.
