In a dramatic contrast to the Georgian Government’s distanced, occasionally hostile attitude towards Ukraine, Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili said the de-occupation of Georgia must be a part of the future final peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
Ms Zourabichvili’s statement was not followed up with any comment from the Government side further exposing a foreign policy rift between the two on how Georgia should position itself on Ukraine.
In prior years, Georgian Dream consistently opposed any calls to integrate the issue of Georgia’s own de-occupation into western sanctions imposed upon Russia following the annexation of Crimea and the war in Eastern Ukraine.
The Georgian President’s words did, however, trigger an outcry in Kyiv.
“When I appealed to my fellow Georgians in March to help us and work together, Georgia, which was represented by these people [the current government], even issued a statement saying that I am interfering in their affairs,” Oleksiy Danilov Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine told RBC Ukraine.
Mr Danilov also brought up the matter of Mikheil Saakashvili, who is a Ukrainian citizen.
“If you had any kind of respect, you should not mock him, but let our citizen go to Kyiv,” Danilov said adding that “on the one hand, they [Georgian government] want to take back their lands with our blood, and on the other hand, they mock our citizens,” he added.
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