"Georgia Prime Minister made it clear the country wants peace with Russia" - opinion
Paata Zakareishvili on Garibashvili and Russia
Well-known Georgian political scientist Paata Zakareishvili commented on the statements made by Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili during his recent foreign visits, in particular to Qatar. The prime minister hinted that “we want” peace with Russia and the Georgian government no longer needs the West, Zakareishvili said in the 360 Degrees program. According to him, at the Qatar Economic Forum, the prime minister “spoke a lot of outright lies.”
“Garibashvili is increasingly making dishonest statements. Unfortunately, he was appointed to the post of prime minister for the second time. His statements are extremely harsh, untrue and inadequate in relation to reality.
For example, one of them sounded in the sense that the whole world was allegedly working to make peace with Hitler. In fact, the whole world worked to destroy Hitler, and no one was looking for a common language with him and did not think to negotiate peace. With this statement, Garibashvili hinted to Russia that Georgia wants peace with it. And there are many such lies.
Firstly, we do not have trade relations with Russia worth one billion [as Garibashvili stated]. We have over two billion. The EU had 27 billion. He manipulates numbers, not percentages. EU trade with Russia has decreased from 27 billion to 7 billion, while Georgia is increasing its trade with Russia. The trade turnover between Georgia and Russia has doubled or tripled,” Paata Zakareishvili said.
According to the political scientist, the Georgian government is doing its best to prevent the country from obtaining the status of a candidate for EU membership:
“Georgian government wants to keep power. And the status of a candidate, democratization, an independent court will lead to its loss, so it no longer needs the West and is looking for reasons to be denied status.”
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Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, during his speech at the panel discussion of the Qatar Economic Forum, reiterated that 20 percent of the territory of Ukraine is already occupied by Russia and “no one knows when” this war will end. According to him, everyone is surprised that Ukraine “lasted so long.”
The Prime Minister also touched upon the resumption of flights with Russia and said that this is a “normal” story. Garibashvili also appreciated the “smart approach” of China, which is trying to mediate between Ukraine and Russia.
