Georgia reacts to Ukraine crisis

Georgia shares the concerns of the international society regarding the ongoing tense situation in Ukraine and is offering its solidarity with the people and government of the troubled nation.

Georgia’s President Giorgi Margvelashvili today released a special statement in support of Ukraine.

"Today the territorial integrity of another European state is at risk,” he said.

In his statement, the Georgian President said states’ borders should not be changed by harsh intervention by external forces and military aggression. 

"We once again confirm our stable support to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and call on the international community to join our efforts to avoid a new war in Europe."

Georgia's Foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze also commented on the current situation in Ukraine from Romania where she is currently on an official visit.

"Alarming news is arriving from Ukraine … [and] I would like to once again show our solidarity to the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian state,” she said

Panjikidze said Georgia condemned the military aggression and the annexation of Crimea, and noted "once again [I would like to] say that Georgia supports the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine and is very much concerned about the latest developments”.

"I hope very much a solution can be found in this very, very bad situation, which affects not only Ukraine but the whole region,” she said.

Georgia's State Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Alex Petriashvili was also "deeply concerned" about the situation in the neighbouring country. He urged the international society to take "immediate measures" to help Ukraine. 

The Georgian Consul in Donetsk, one of Ukraine's most troubled areas, said earlier today almost all Georgian citizens had already left the region and those who remained were asked to be "extremely careful" and not to leave their homes. 

This morning Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko declared Russian troops had crossed into Ukraine and he had been forced to cancel a planned visit to Turkey. Instead he convened a meeting of the National Security Council which focused on the "marked aggravation of the situation” in the southeast of his country.