Georgia called Kyiv’s decision on Saakashvili interference

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia called Kiev’s decision to send the Georgian ambassador to Tbilisi for consultations an interference in internal affairs – in connection with the situation surrounding ex-president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili.

As stated in the statement released on Tuesday by the Georgian Foreign Ministry, Tbilisi is deeply concerned about the actions of the Ukrainian leadership, and they believe that Kyiv’s move is “directed against a friendly state and people.” At the same time, the document reports that on July 4, at a meeting at the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Georgian Ambassador Giorgi Zakarashvili presented Tbilisi’s official position.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy demanded the day before that politician Mikheil Saakashvili be allowed to travel to Ukraine for treatment. Zelensky reminded that Saakashvili also has Ukrainian citizenship. At the same time, it was reported that Zelensky issued an order to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to summon the Georgian ambassador to Kyiv and to order him to leave Ukraine within 48 hours for consultations in Tbilisi on this issue.

The reason for Volodymyr Zelensky’s statement was the next court hearing in the Saakashvila case on Monday. The ex-president of Georgia participated in it via video link from the Vyvamed clinic. In the video, Saakashvili looked extremely exhausted. In his twitter, Zelensky stated that “Russia is killing Ukrainian citizen Mykhailo Saakashvili at the hands of the Georgian authorities.”

In March last year, Zelensky recalled the ambassador of Ukraine from Tbilisi,
motivating the decision by the position of the Georgian authorities, who refused to introduce
direct sanctions against Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine.

• Mikhail Saakashvili is serving a 6-year prison term on charges of abuse of authority. He himself does not admit guilt and considers himself a political prisoner. Since May of last year, the politician has been undergoing treatment for a number of diseases at the Vyvamed clinic in Tbilisi.
• Saakashvili demands that he be transferred to another country for treatment, accusing the Georgian authorities of seeking his death. He also suspects that he was poisoned. The authorities, in turn, accuse Saakashvili of simulation. On July 4, the Minister of Justice of Georgia, Rati Bregadze, stated that the ex-president was deliberately harming his health by restricting himself as much as possible in food and refusing to follow the recommendations of the treating doctors.