In the frames of the official visit to Washington, Zaza Vashakmadze, the chairman of the State Agency for Religions Issues held a working meeting with Samuel Brownback the US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom.

At the meeting, they discussed about the situation in the occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions of Georgia in terms of freedom of religion, persecution and harassment of Georgian Orthodox Church, restriction of worship and destruction of cult buildings and the removal of Georgian cultural identity in them in the regions occupied by the Russian side.

Zaza Vashakmadze provided the host of the video footage reflecting the current situation of Orthodox churches in the occupied Abkhazia. He also presented him a photo album issued by the agency - "Religions in Georgia" and the report 2017-18 of the State Agency for Religions Issues.

The Ambassador has approved the activities of the State Agency for Religious Issues and fully supported trough. He also expressed an initiative on the implementation of Georgian-American joint projects in the protection of freedom of religion.

At the end of the meeting, Samuel Brownback expressed his wish to visit Georgia. According to him, evaluation of the challenges facing US and Georgia regarding religious policy and sharing experiences is important.