We were with the American soldiers when the majority of the NATO countries did not even think of going to Afghanistan, we were on the front line, - said the Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia, Shalva Papuashvili.

As Shalva Papuashvili mentioned, we have a format of mutual assistance. According to him, "we are not only recipients of aid, our participation in the Afghanistan mission was our assistance."

"If the statement of a politician is a reason for someone not to celebrate the Independence Day with the soldiers of their strategic partner country who went to Afghanistan with American soldiers, it is up to them. We show our attitude in other ways, we were with the American soldiers when the majority of the NATO countries did not even think of going to Afghanistan, we were on the front line. So that's our approach. We see the world from our perspective. Our perspective is one of friendship and partnership. In this regard, we have a solid partnership. We have a mutual aid format. We are not just recipients of aid. Our participation in the Afghanistan mission was our contribution to the common job. So it's not just unilateral, it's also our contribution, which is quite big, in the Afghanistan mission. I emphasize again, even compared to NATO member countries, we were the third or fourth in terms of our contingent in Afghanistan since 2015, and while the contingent of many NATO member countries was a few units of people, or a few dozen people in Afghanistan, who were mainly employed at the headquarters, we were on the front line. It was our help in the common job. Therefore, military cooperation is a format of mutual interest and mutual assistance", said Shalva Papuashvili.

For information, according to the Formula TV, in response to the question sent by them, the US Embassy in Georgia stated that they refused to participate in the May 26 event due to Bidzina Ivanishvili's statement.

"The US participation in the May 26 government event was canceled due to the spread of false narratives against the United States that were voiced by the honorary chairman of the Georgian Dream during his speech on April 29.

The United States remains a strong supporter of Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity and wants to see Georgia firmly integrated into Euro-Atlantic structures. We call on the Georgian government to return to this path," the embassy said.

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