Georgian PM: restoring peace in Ukraine remains key

Georgian prime minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Friday said that restoring peace in Ukraine remains the primary focus for Georgia, emphasising that Tbilisi will not impose any preconditions on Kyiv despite what he described as “extremely unfriendly steps” from the Ukrainian government.

Speaking to journalists, the head of government reiterated that Ukraine is a friendly country and its citizens are a friendly nation, stressing the critical importance of ending the conflict.

“We cannot impose any preconditions on Ukraine; it is a country at war. First and foremost, I wish Ukraine peace. Ukraine is a friendly country, the Ukrainian people are a friendly nation, and it is very important for us that peace is restored in Ukraine. You know the state the ongoing war has brought Ukraine to - the infrastructure and economy are destroyed, the humanitarian situation is extremely severe, countless people have died, and approximately 10 million people have left the country. For us, the main thing is that peace is restored in Ukraine. As for preconditions, we cannot set any preconditions; moreover, when extremely unfriendly steps were taken by the Ukrainian authorities, we remained in a mode of one-sided friendship. In any case, no matter what happens, we intend to stay in exactly this mode; accordingly, we do not intend to put forward any preconditions to the Ukrainian authorities, and we hope that the Ukrainian authorities will change their attitude toward the Georgian people and, consequently, toward the Georgian government”, the PM said.

“You know what those steps were - when we did not impose sanctions and did not send volunteer fighters to Ukraine with official government consent, this was followed by the recall of the Ukrainian ambassador from Georgia. Later, our ambassador, who did not leave Kyiv for a single day after the war started, was practically expelled from the country. In addition to this, there were direct calls from the [Ukrainian] president’s chief advisor and the secretary of the security council regarding the opening of a second front, and so on. We hope that this attitude will change on the part of the Ukrainian authorities. But, no matter how it turns out, we certainly do not intend to set any preconditions. In any case, we are ready to remain even in a mode of one-sided friendship”, he concluded.