Ukraine’s parliamentary speaker: 'Georgia is amplifying Russian narratives'
Stefanchuk responds to Papuashvili
Ukraine’s parliamentary speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk has responded to remarks by Georgian parliament speaker Shalva Papuashvili, who described Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as an “ungrateful person” showing no appreciation towards either the United States or Georgia.
According to Stefanchuk, those who repeatedly accuse Ukraine of “ingratitude” are in fact masking a loss of their own dignity and replacing it with what he described as servile submission.
Earlier, Shalva Papuashvili said that Georgia supports the Ukrainian people, but that “neither Zelensky and his deputies nor Brussels deserve support, because they are ungrateful people”.
“Zelensky is an ungrateful person. He shows no gratitude either towards the United States or towards Georgia. Let me remind you that he recalled [Ukraine’s ambassador to Georgia] because we refused to allow Georgians to go and fight and die. So they can say thank you, but ultimately we no longer particularly need their gratitude. We are doing all this for the Ukrainian people. The final judgement on Zelensky will be delivered by the Ukrainian people themselves,” Papuashvili said.
Ruslan Stefanchuk said: “Ukrainians are a grateful nation. We respect everyone who helps us in our struggle for freedom and for the right to choose our own future. And we are, of course, grateful to the Georgian people — a people who know exactly what dignity means. A people who bravely take to the streets of their cities in support of Ukraine. A people who, as part of volunteer battalions, fight shoulder to shoulder against our common Russian enemy.
Against this background, Georgia’s ‘support’ for the UN resolution concerning Ukraine’s territorial integrity can hardly be described as charity or heroism. In 2026, it represents only the minimum standard of basic decency.”
He added: “To those who, through constant accusations of ‘ingratitude’ directed at Ukraine — a country bleeding in its struggle for the right to exist — seek to conceal the loss of their own dignity and instead demonstrate servile submission, I would like to recall the words of the great Georgian philosopher Merab Mamardashvili: ‘There is no formula for human freedom, nor any cure for human stupidity. Political effectiveness is not the most important thing. Freedom is.’
And finally, Ukraine does not need lectures from moralists who act as amplifiers of the so-called ‘Russian world’ narratives. What Ukraine needs are genuine allies — those who understand that in the fight against Russian aggression, it is not compliments that matter, but principles and support.”
Stefanchuk responds to Papuashvili
