Georgian Government’s Stance Contradicts Position of Democratic International Community, Podolyak says
By Khatia Bzhalava
Thursday, May 5, 2022
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the head of the Ukrainian president's office, has told Voice of America that the position of the Georgian government contradicts the position of the democratic international community. He said that Georgia is looking at the war in Ukraine strangely, stressing that Georgia does not take the same ‘clear and unequivocal position’ as the EU and the United States.
According to him, the Georgian government is directly or indirectly linked to ‘Russian oligarch’, Bidzina Ivanishvili, who “unfortunately, has long influenced the current Georgian government”. Podolyak stressed that Ukrainians feel the support of the Georgian people and he believes that it is ‘inconceivable how such people can have an oligarch like Ivanishvili.
According to him, Georgia could have taken a ‘more understandable position’, as it also suffered from direct military intervention by the Russian Federation. He also said that the Ukrainian side has information from foreign intelligence that Russia is engaged in negotiations with various countries, including Georgia, along with Russia and Belarus.
A similar statement has been made by the intelligence service of the Ukrainian Defence Ministry, which claimed that Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan were in talks with Moscow to re-export Russian products to international markets. In response, the Georgian side expressed dissatisfaction with the allegations, highlighting that “such unverified information damages partner relations between the two countries” and urged the Ukrainian side to ‘timely’ provide evidence for the claims.
Giorgi Amilakhvari, a member of the parliamentary majority and chairman of the Education Committee, has told the reporters that they advise the Ukrainian authorities to concentrate on resolving the war, stressing that “it is up to the Georgian people to decide whether Bidzina Ivanishvili will be in power or someone else”. According to him, the Ukrainian side’s statements "stir up anti-Ukrainian sentiments in Georgia and the Georgian population."
"Georgia and its citizens are in the first place in terms of humanitarian aid, against this background, insulting statements should not be made about who will be elected to power," Amilakhvari said.
Levan Davitashvili, the Georgian Economy Minister, announced on Wednesday that the country was part of all international decisions on the sanctions imposed by the international community against Russia, adding that Georgia has had the ‘clearest positions’ in all international formats, condemning the Russian aggression and being the “strongest” supporter of Ukraine's territorial integrity.
He also touched upon the issue of individual economic sanctions, which are not explicitly imposed by Georgia unilaterally, pointing out that many countries, including NATO member states, have not imposed them against Russia either. According to Davitashvili, such a decision has been made due to many factors, one of them being the fact that such sanctions from Georgia will be useless to the Russian economy, but will be damaging to the Georgian citizens.
Economy Minister also mentioned the claims made by Ukrainian authorities on Georgia being used to circumventing international sanctions against Russia, calling them “irresponsible and immoral”.
“These statements harm Georgia's interests and relations with our international partners. Our partners are fully informed that there is no reason for this. The Ministry of Finance has enhanced monitoring mechanisms and we share information in all formats with our partners,” Davitashvili said, adding that it is shame that this issue is being speculated on.
The head of the ruling Georgian Dream Party Irakli Kobakhidze announced yesterday that the Georgian Government maintained trade relations with Russia “just like Ukraine does”. He also pointed out that European Union received 80 percent of the Russian gas via Ukraine and thus also maintained the economic relations.
“When Ukraine maintains these relations, it is logical that we also have our interests,” he said.
As the head of the ruling party noted, imposing sanctions on Russia would cause more harm to the country itself compared to Russia and added that Georgia’s international partners were “aware of this”. According to him, the Georgian Government’s position regarding the sanctions against Russia is clear.
