"Russia's policy is provocation" - meeting of the Presidents of Georgia and Poland
Polish president’s visit to Georgia
Polish President Andrzej Duda arrived in Georgia on an unscheduled visit late in the evening of February 3 and met with Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili. The presidents held a joint briefing at the airport, during which Zurabishvili, on behalf of Georgia, expressed solidarity with Ukraine.
She also noted that aggressive actions in Ukraine are a sign that “Russia’s current policy is to move towards provocations”.
According to the President of Georgia, during the meeting with their Polish counterpart, they exchanged information on the situation in Ukraine and Russia’s actions.
“The entire European, Western world is responding to this with negotiations, efforts to resolve this situation and move towards peace, but de-escalation, like peace negotiations, requires the readiness of both sides”, Zurabishvili said.
According to the president, the challenges that exist threaten security of Europe as a whole. “If we are talking about the security of Europe, then this is our security too”.
“Our solidarity is not solidarity in words. This is solidarity from a country that has suffered and is experiencing occupation. We understand well how the Ukrainian people feel, and we fully share it”, the President of Georgia said.
According to her, those who have imperial ambitions do not understand what the world of the 21st century is like. According to Zurabishvili, the use of military force is a thing of the past:
“Today there is no other way to face these global challenges than to find peaceful ways”.
According to Polish President Andrzej Duda, Georgia has a tragic experience of relations with Russia, so joint consultations are important.
“We express our solidarity and all issues related to security, in general, are very important for us.
Georgia is our ally, it is a state with which we are friends with. I am planning more visits next week as well as consultations in Brussels and Berlin. Information and consultations with the President of Georgia were very important for us”, the President of Poland said.
The unscheduled visit of the President of Poland coincided with the adoption by the Georgian parliament of a resolution in support of Ukraine, in which Russia is not mentioned.
Earlier, on January 26, a meeting of representatives of the ruling party and opposition deputies took place to develop a resolution in support of Ukraine, but it ended in failure – the deputies could not agree on the text of the document. The reason for this is that Russia is not mentioned in the text compiled by the ruling Georgian Dream party.
The opposition Droa party has created an alternative petition in support of Ukraine, which has already been distributed on social media for anyone to sign. This was followed by visits by the opposition parties Lelo, Droa, and the United National Movement to Ukraine, where they expressed solidarity with the friendly country.
Western leaders and Ukrainian authorities say Russia has deployed more than 100,000 troops to Ukraine’s borders and that a Russian invasion of Ukraine is possible in the near future.
Russia denies any intention to invade Ukraine but is demanding official “security guarantees” from the US and NATO countries, including guarantees that Ukraine and Georgia will never join NATO.
Washington and Brussels refused to comply with Russia’s demands, but offered to continue the dialogue.
As a result of negotiations and exchanges of written messages, Russia, on one side, and the United States and NATO, on the other, have not yet come to an understanding.
