US warns Georgia not to side with Moscow against the west

Official suggests US funding could be pulled as new ‘Kremlin-inspired’ law provokes mass protests

• Why are Georgians protesting against a ‘foreign agents’ bill?
• Georgia protests – live updates

Georgia has been warned by the US government not to become an adversary of the west by falling back in line with Moscow, as its parliament defied mass street protests to pass a “Kremlin-inspired” law.

The US assistant secretary of state Jim O’Brien spoke of his fears that the passing by Georgia’s parliament of a “foreign agents” bill on Tuesday could be yet another “turning point” in the former Soviet state’s troubled history.