Ruling party head alleges “certain representatives” of Ukrainian Gov’t want to “turn Georgia into second front” of war with Russia

Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Thursday said the “only interest” of “certain representatives” of the Ukrainian Government was to “somehow turn Georgia into a second front” amid the Russian invasion in Ukraine. 

In his remarks over the matter, Kobakhidze stressed Georgian citizens “do not want a war and a second front”, and added the Government would “defend this position as much as possible”.

“There is a coordination and convergence of interests [between a part of the domestic Georgian opposition and certain representatives of the Ukrainian Government]. On one side there’s the [opposition] United National Movement [party], and on the other are [Ukrainian MP] Arakhamia and Podoliak [adviser to the Head of the Ukrainian President's Office]”, the GD official said. 

I am referring to certain persons in the Ukrainian Government. Their only interest is to somehow turn Georgia into a second front. They will not achieve this, no matter what kind of blackmail they use. Our Government stands firmly to protect the interests of [Georgian] citizens”, he continued. 

David Arakhamia, the Chair of the ruling party faction in the Ukrainian Parliament, on Wednesday said Ukrainian authorities would “help Georgian citizens carry out a deoligarchisation” in the country “if you unfortunately do not possess the necessary effort for independently [doing so]”.