Vasil Sikharulidze

Who is Vasil Sikharulidze?

Vasil Sikharulidze is a Georgian diplomat and politician. He has been foreign affairs advisor to the President of Georgia since August 27, 2009. He had previously served as Ambassador to the United States and Georgia's Minister of Defence.

Born in Tbilisi, then-Soviet Georgia, Sikharulidze graduated from Tbilisi State Medical University in 1993 and practiced psychiatry from 1993 to 1995. After a brief tenure as an Executive Director of the Atlantic Council of Georgia, an umbrella organization that brings together Georgian NGOs working on Euro-Atlantic integration issues, Sikharulidze worked for the Parliament of Georgia as a leading specialist on defense and security issues from 1996 to 2000. He headed the NATO division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia from 2000 to 2002 and served as a deputy head of the Georgian Mission of NATO in Brussels. He worked for the National Security Council of Georgia in 2004 and served as a Deputy Minister of Defense in the years 2005-2006.

In March 2006, Sikharulidze was appointed the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to the United States, Canada and Mexico.