Parliament Speaker: "signs of war crimes" at Ukraine sites
Papuashvili also said the International Criminal Court was “the very instance” where all the evidence of war crimes committed by the Russian military in Ukraine had to be documented. Photo: Parliament of Georgia
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Shalva Papuashvili, the Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia, said on Monday the Georgian parliamentary delegation had observed “signs of war crimes” during their visit to Ukraine on the weekend.
Papuashvili said developments in Ukraine following the Russian invasion must be “legally documented”, and drew parallels to sights seen in Georgia during the 2008 war between Russia and the country,and in the conflicts of the 1990s.
What we have seen [in Ukraine] is horrible. I also mentioned there that, unfortunately, this is not the first time for Georgians to see such images. We remember these images from the nineties, we remember them from the 2008 war, we are familiar with them, and to some extent, they awakened in us the tragedy seen in Georgia,” the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament said.
Papuashvili also said the International Criminal Court was “the very instance” where all the evidence of war crimes committed by the Russian military in Ukraine had to be documented.
Of course what we have seen there [in Ukraine] contains signs of war crimes. The fact is that what we have seen - the damage to civilian buildings, the human casualties among civilians - all this requires a legal assessment. Here everyone should be involved to legally document everything,” Papuashvili said.
Georgia will not be a country where Russia will be able to bypass international sanctions for its invasion of Ukraine, Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili stated on Sunday, following his visit to Ukraine and meeting with the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada Chair Ruslan Stefanchuk.
There have been no demands from the Ukrainian authorities to their Georgian counterparts on sanctions against Russia, as Georgia is already a part of all international measures imposed on the Kremlin following its invasion of Ukraine, Parliament Vice Speaker Archil Talakvadze said in an interview released by the Georgian Public Broadcaster on Sunday.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili, along with the parliamentary delegation of Georgia, met with Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada Chair Ruslan Stefanchuk and denounced Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine on an official visit to the country on Saturday.
The Georgian parliamentary delegation, led by Speaker Shalva Papuashvili, arrived in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.
The Georgian MPs departed for Ukraine on Friday and will meet with their Ukrainian counterparts on Saturday.
Georgia has taken “specific steps” to show support for Ukraine, and the country stands with the Ukrainian people in “every possible way”, Kakha Kaladze, the Mayor of Tbilisi and Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party, said on Monday.
Thea Tsulukiani, the Georgian Vice Prime Minister and Culture Minister, on Tuesday said the visit of the Parliamentary delegation from the country to Ukraine over the weekend had been “very important and successful” amid the ongoing Russian invasion.
The Helsinki Commission, the US government agency for security and cooperation in Europe, commended the visit of the Georgian parliamentary delegation, led by Speaker Shalva Papuashvili, to Ukraine amid the war, saying their display of solidarity was “heartening to see.”
Oleksandr Merezhko, the Chair of the Committee on Foreign Policy in Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada, said on Friday the Georgian parliamentary delegation’s visit to Ukraine was “extremely important.”