imprisoned former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili says that Ukraine’s allegations that Russia uses Georgia to smuggle in various goods through the consent of the Georgian Dream government are reportedly based on the data provided by intelligence agencies of Western countries. 

Saakashvili, who holds Ukrainian citizenship, stated in Tbilisi City Court today, that Ukraine mostly uses the information provided by the UK and the US intelligence agencies in this regard. 

“I do not want to believe this is true,” Saakashvili said, attending a trial hearing in his own case related to embezzlement of state funds. 

He stated that the Georgian Dream government has tried to shift blame onto former official Gia Lortkipanidze who currently serves in the Ukrainian counterintelligence service. 

“It is an absolutely different agency,” Saakashvili said. 

He stated that the Georgian Dream government must present an instruction or a list of what is sanctioned and what not to make grounds for its claims that the allegations are groundless. 

Saakashvili, who held an official post in Ukraine’s National Reforms Council, was arrested in Tbilisi on October 1, 2021 after eight years in political exile. 

He is currently serving his six-year term for abuse of power and faces several other charges.