It is “completely incomprehensible” how Ukrainian authorities have time to concentrate on Georgia’s internal political issues - PM

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Saturday said it was “completely incomprehensible” how the Ukrainian authorities had time to concentrate on Georgia’s internal political issues, adding Georgia “does not need anyone’s interference in domestic political affairs, this is completely unacceptable”.

Answering the journalists' questions, Garibashvili called the Ukrainian Government’s attitude towards Georgia “completely unjustified”, noting he did not want “go into details” over the matter, as the country was in “the worst situation” - ongoing war.

I would not wish anyone to be in the role of the Ukrainian government today. They are in a very difficult situation, they are fighting against the aggressor", said Irakli Garibashvili.

The Head of the Government wished Ukraine “peace and a quick end to the war, victory and the return of their territories”, stressing that about 20 million Ukrainians had to leave their homes amid the “catastrophic” war, with 20 percent of the country’s territories already lost.

He also made comments on the meeting of Ukrainian MP David Arakhamia and Nika Gvaramia, the head of the domestic Mtavari Arkhi TV, on Friday, who had been convicted last year for improper commercial deals while at the helm of the Rustavi 2 TV channel in 2015 and 2019 and sentenced to three years and six months in prison, and was pardoned by the Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili in June.

The PM said it was “direct evidence of coordination between the Ukrainian Government and the Georgian destructive, radical, extremist opposition”. He also noted the goal of the appeal of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, demanding the release of imprisoned former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, was “very simple” - to have “no peace in Georgia” and need the Government, which could carry out their interests in the country and “somehow divert Russia’s attention to other fronts [to Georgia], though we [Georgian Government] will not allow this”.

He also addressed this week’s NATO Summit in Vilnius, saying the Alliance officials had “directly announced” that Ukraine could not join NATO until it defeats Russia. “If Ukraine defeats Russia, why would it need NATO membership?” Garibashvili added.

NATO said that they cannot allow the third world war and they do not need Ukraine. The Alliance, in the direction of membership, cannot take effective steps even with regard to a country [Ukraine] ten times bigger than us”, the PM stressed, noting Georgia must think about itself first, “that is why we have chosen a policy of strategic patience in order not to create unnecessary expectations and consistently pursue our national goal. The main task for the country is to follow the plan step by step and become a member of NATO and the European Union at the right time”.

In his comments to the media, Garibashvili also criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s decision last week to instruct the Ukrainian foreign office to summon the Georgian Ambassador to Ukraine and ask him to leave the country within 48 hours to hold consultations in Tbilisi.

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The Head of the Government said the Georgian Ambassador to Ukraine, Giorgi Zakarashvili was “almost the last ambassador who stayed in Kyiv [...] bravely defending the interests of our country and helping our Ukrainians there”, and slammed Ukraine’s decision by saying “this is how the Ukrainians appreciated it”, while Ukraine “has not recalled any ambassadors from those countries”, which were directly involved in this process and directly took Russia's side.