Ukraine recalls its Ambassador from Tbilisi - no comments from Georgian government yet

Ukraine recalled its ambassador from Georgia

The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky recalled ambassadors from Georgia and Morocco. During the video address, Zelensky spoke about the work of the representatives of the Ukrainian diplomatic missions and noted that they should look for another job.

“There are those who work together to protect the country so that Ukraine can regain its future. We appreciate the hard work of each such people. And there are those who waste time and work just to stay in office – please look for another job”, said the Ukrainian president.

Giorgi Vashadze, chairman of the opposition Strategy Agmashenebeli party, says that the decision of the President of Ukraine to recall the ambassador from Georgia is a demarche. According to Vashadze, instead of correcting its mistakes, the Georgian government exacerbated the situation even further.

“The Georgian Dream has become a political force that values ​​cowardice and says that bold, principled steps are ‘contrary to the state’s interests’. This is a reality that is being observed not only by President Zelensky but also by our Western partners.

When they don’t even provide free housing for Ukrainian IDPs, what else are we talking about ?! They failed to show strong support even in humanitarian issues. I understand that we have our own refugees and we have many other social problems, but now Ukraine is under a huge blow and the ongoing struggle in Ukraine is our struggle”, Vashadze said.

Giga Bokeria, the leader of European Georgia, says that “our government, which is illegitimate, has managed have a falling out with the Ukrainian government at such a [hard] time”. As Bokeria points out, Georgia has a government that does not directly serve the national interests of the country.

“It is not up to us and us to decide whether the president of our friendly country, especially a country that is now fighting heroically and is being bombed by Putin’s empire, is either dissatisfied or satisfied with the ambassador”, Bokeria said.

According to him, the Georgian government managed to enter into a conflict with the Ukrainian government in a disgraceful, as well as pragmatic way and to the detriment of Georgia’s national interests.

“They said simultaneously that it is partly the responsibility of the Ukrainian government to prevent the war and that military assistance to Ukraine does not make sense (as Irakli Garibashvili said), [for them] it is an opportunity to enter the market of the evil empire – it is nonsense to say that while preventing volunteers from fighting in Ukraine, and trying to demonstrate that you are not on the right side of history – [ of course] this reaction followed, it is a moral and political catastrophe for our country”, Bokeria said.

No comment has been made on the recall of the Ukrainian ambassador by the Georgian government so far.

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Volodymyr Zelensky temporarily recalled the ambassador from Georgia on March 1. He cited the “immoral position” of the Georgian authorities regarding the refusal to impose sanctions on Russia as the reason.

It was also unacceptable for the President of Ukraine that Georgia did not allow volunteers to travel to Ukraine and fight on its side.

At the time, Irakli Kobakhidze, chairman of the Georgian Dream, said that Volodymyr Zelensky’s statement on the recall of Ukraine’s ambassador to Georgia was linked to a “coordinated attempt to involve Georgia in the military conflict”.