President Zourabichvili Calls Sanctions Against Russia ‘Symbolic’
By Khatia Bzhalava
Thursday, February 24, 2022
President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili stated on Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions against Ukraine are worrying and a threat to Europe’s security. While talking with international media outlets, the president also echoed the sanctions imposed by Western countries against Russia after the recognition of two breakaway regions of Ukraine, noting that “the whole range of sanctions can provide some form of result”. Zourabichvili stated that imposing sanctions is the right answer from the side of democratic countries, stressing that “you do not answer war by war”. She noted that sanctions being imposed now are more symbolic, however, “it is a signal of things to come”. The President said that Western partners did not use all the possibility they had in 2008 in the case of Georgia and 2014 in the case of Ukraine, hoping that this time the sanctions will be different.
“So I think today the challenge is exactly that - what is that the united West can do to make Russia feel the moral, political and financial costs, without war and major escalation,” Zourabichvili noted.
She stressed that the Russian aggression against Ukraine feels like 2008, recalling the Russia-Georgia war. However, she also highlighted the differences in Russia’s approach this time, namely the fact that Russia is moving directly to the annexation, without the pretext of war. The President noted that Putin’s recent speech is something that everyone has to worry about, noting that not only Georgia or Ukraine but all of Europe is at stake.
When asked about the solution to the problem of Georgia’s territorial integrity, the President noted that such a problem could not be solved with force, noting that the only alternative is diplomacy. According to her, Georgia needs to see signs of de-escalation of the situation at the occupation line, however, the president notes that she does not see these signs yet.
“Unfortunately, we have on the other side, the government of Russia that does not seem to be prone to diplomacy and we are seeing what is happening today… Georgia today does not have the means to bring Russia to real dialogue and to de-escalation,” the president noted, adding that if there were signs of de-escalation, she would take all the risks for dialogue.
