Parliament Committee Chair urges Kyiv to “distance itself” from some of its officials’ stances on Georgia

Nikoloz Samkharadze, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament's Foreign Relations Committee, on Wednesday urged the Ukrainian Government to “distance itself” from several of its representatives who he said had “openly revealed their desire” to see Georgia involved in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. 

Naming Ukrainian presidential advisers Mykhailo Podolyak and Oleksiy Arestovych, as well as Oleksiy Danilov, the Secretary of the National Security, as sources of statements representing the alleged position, the Georgian MP stressed it would be “welcome” if official structures of the country “clearly separate themselves” from the politicians and their views. 

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Samkharadze also claimed Ukrainian colleagues had stressed the mentioned officials did not represent the “official position” of the Government in conversations with him. He added the circumstances meant “there is a little misunderstanding in this regard” on the backdrop of an alleged lack of reaction by official bodies to the statements of the mentioned politicians about Georgia.

If these people are not officials, then we would like to hear an explanation from the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry on who is speaking on behalf of Ukraine", he noted. 

In March, shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Danilov said Georgia would “greatly help” Ukraine by opening military fronts against Russia, with Podolyak and Arestovych also pointing to an alleged “weakness” of Georgian authorities and claiming the former United National Movement Government would have supported their country “more bravely”. 

The remarks have marked a contrast to other comments like the statement by Oleg Nikolenko, a Ukrainian Foreign Ministry representative, who on Tuesday claimed hs country had “no plans” to see Georgia involved in its conflict with Russia and noting Georgian authorities were using the topic to achieve their “narrow, domestic political goals”.