Leaked recordings: Georgia sends protest note to Ukraine

Tbilisi has officially sent a letter of protest to Ukrainian officials in Kiev denouncing the fact Georgia's ex-president and current Odessa Governor Mikheil Saakashvili encouraged an alleged coup in Georgia.

Yesterday Georgia’s Foreign Ministry summoned Ukraine’s chargé d’affaires Georgii Nazarov and handed him the protest letter in connection with the recently released audio recordings that encouraged violence in the country.

Georgia's Deputy Foreign Minister Davit Jalagania told the Ukrainian diplomat Tbilisi was "extremely dissatisfied” with Saakashvili’s remarks, which contained "calls posing a threat to security and stability in Georgia.”

"Such remarks represent interference in Georgia’s internal affairs, which is inadmissible and does not correspond the spirit of the friendly and partner relations existing between Georgia and Ukraine,” the Georgian Foreign Ministry said.

The Georgian side expressed hope the Ukrainian side would react "appropriately” and no similar situation would reoccur.

On October 29 a Ukrainian website published the phone conversations between Georgia’s ex-president Saakashvili with leader of the opposition United National Movement (UNM) Giga Bokeria and director of private broadcasting TV company Rustavi 2 Nika Gvaramia.

Bokeria and Gvaramia confirmed the authenticity of the October 19 phone conversations, in which Saakashvili encouraged a potential "revolution" scenario if the court ruled in favour of former Rustavi 2 owner Qibar Khalvashi concerning the ongoing legal dispute between current and ex-shareholders of the private broadcaster.

On May 30, 2015 Ukraine’s president Petro Poroshenko appointed Saakashvili – who currently holds dual citizenship of Georgia and Ukraine - as head of Odessa region in southwestern Ukraine.

The ex-President is wanted by Georgia's law-enforcement bodies for several charges.