Head of Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the situation with Saakashvili

Ukrainian Foreign Minister on Saakashvili

According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, after the publication of a video recording from the courtroom where Mikhail Saakashvili’s case was being heard, the situation “reached a boiling point,” and Kyiv took a sharp but “fair step.”

“When the state is dissatisfied with something, the first reaction is to express protest. The second is to summon the ambassador for consultations. And the third level of response, several steps higher in terms of severity, is to ask the ambassador of that country to leave Ukraine for consultations with their government. This is an extremely harsh form of diplomacy, but the Georgian government deserves it,” Kuleba said.

According to him, on the morning of July 4, the Georgian ambassador to Ukraine will be summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a “proper” conversation.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine states that the Georgian authorities want to execute Saakashvili out of personal hatred and revenge, using old Stalinist methods:

“If they see Saakashvili as a threat to their domestic politics, let him leave Georgia, let him peacefully live in Ukraine or any other country in the world. And you can continue to get closer to Russia if that’s what you desire. But we see a blind, simply cruel policy — putting him to death.”

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“On July 3, Vladimir Zelenskyy stated, ‘Russia, through the hands of the Georgian authorities, is killing a citizen of Ukraine,’ demanding that Mikhail Saakashvili be transferred for treatment to Ukraine.

According to Zelenskyy, he instructed Dmitry Kuleba to summon the Georgian ambassador to Ukraine, express a firm protest to him, and request him to leave Ukraine within 48 hours for consultations with the authorities of Georgia regarding the transfer of Saakashvili.

On July 3, a court hearing was held regarding Mikhail Saakashvili’s case, in which he participated via video link. In a photo taken from the courtroom, it is evident how much the former President of Georgia, who has been in prison since October 2021, has visibly lost weight.”