Georgian Parliament speaker does not accept Ukraine's invitation to visit Bucha

Ukraine invited Speaker of the Georgian Parliament to visit Bucha

Speaker of the Georgian Parliament Shalva Papuashvili was invited to visit the city of Bucha in Ukraine to see with his own eyes the consequences of Russia’s crimes and evaluate them. Andriy Kasyanov, Acting Ambassador of Ukraine to Georgia, announced this at a briefing at the Ukrainian Embassy on April 8. However, Papuashvili refused to visit Bucha.

The Chairman of the Georgian Parliament wrote about this on his Facebook. According to Papuashvili, Georgia uses all international platforms for the legal assessment of Russian aggression and wants Ukrainian representatives to understand the support of the Georgian people and their government for Ukraine.

“This support and partnership of our countries does not really deserve attempts to divide the Georgian people and their government by high-ranking Ukrainian officials. Demands for the opening of a second front in Georgia, unfounded diplomatic demarches, unfounded accusations of smuggling or the desire to cash in on miraculous grief, which were proclaimed in the previous address of my Ukrainian colleague. Given the lack of clarity on these issues, a formal invitation does not seem appropriate”, Papuashvili writes.

He stated that supporting Ukraine and the Ukrainian people is a human and historical duty of Georgia, and “we will fulfill this duty, no matter how unfair and unfounded the accusations in response may be”.

Before Papuashvili’s official statement, MPs from the ruling party made various comments. For example, Irakli Kadagishvili said, speaking about the speaker of parliament that “he may be unwell”, and according to Dimitri Khundadze, “a trip to Bucha is out of the question until there is an apology or explanation”.

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Relations between Georgia and Ukraine escalated on the second day after the start of the war, when the Prime Minister of Georgia announced that the country would not join the sanctions against Russia. Garibashvili also said that Ukraine could not avoid the war, and because of this, most of the Ukrainian people and state will suffer.

On the same day, Grigory Karasin, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Russian Federation Council, praised the Georgian authorities for their stance on Ukraine. Karasin called Georgia’s response to the anti-Russian sanctions of the West “balanced” and stressed that “this fact will not go unnoticed” in Russia.

After that, President Zelensky recalled the Ukrainian ambassador from Georgia, first temporarily, and then on a permanent basis.

The latest scandal erupted after the Ukrainian intelligence stated that Russia was establishing a smuggling route through the territory of Georgia. According to Kyiv, the political leadership of Georgia had made an agreement with Russia, allowing the smuggling of sanctioned products through its territory.

The State Security Service of Georgia responded to the information disseminated by Ukrainian intelligence by calling on the Ukrainian side to immediately provide evidence confirming the information in order to respond to it legally.