EU Sanctions Envoy in Tbilisi: Georgia takes serious steps to avoid becoming platform to circumvent sanctions against Russia

Georgian authorities are taking very seriously the issue of not allowing the country to be used as a platform for circumvention, the EU Sanctions Envoy David O’Sullivan said yesterday in Tbilisi.

O’Sullivan is currently visiting various countries to make sure they are not circumventing or facilitating the circumvention of EU sanctions against Russia over Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine. 

“In particular, we are focused on 38 battlefield products, which are found on the battlefield by the Ukrainians, and which are used to make Russian weapons more lethal, smarter, and more deadly,” O’Sullivan told a press conference in Tbilisi.

According to the EU Sanctions Envoy, Georgia is not implementing EU sanctions despite its aspirations to be a member of the European Union. “We understand the very specific situation in which Georgia finds itself both economically, in terms of geography, and in terms of close contacts with Russia in many ways. So, we understand that they’re not going to implement our sanctions,” said O’Sullivan.

At the same time, O’Sullivan said, “both on the issue of dual-use and on the issue of the 38 battlefield products, we are very satisfied with the systems of checking and monitoring, which the Georgian authorities have put in place to make sure that these products do not find their way to Russia from this country.”

He added that the EU has “no desire to undermine or prevent the legitimate trade between Georgia and Russia”, but, in his view, “trade with Europe offers a better perspective [to Georgia] than trade with Russia”.