A “foreign agents” law that has brought hundreds of thousands of people on to the streets of Georgia’s capital of Tbilisi could be dropped in return for a package of economic and security support from Washington, the ruling party has hinted.

In response to a draft bill tabled in the US Congress that would open up talks on a trade deal in return for fresh commitments on civil rights, the governing Georgian Dream party said in a statement that it would need to see progress on such promises within a year.

The party’s ruling body, known as the political council, issued a statement on Tuesday in which it insisted that the government would not be blackmailed but also signalled that a way out of the crisis was possible if there was swift progress on preferential trade terms and visa liberalisation.

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