Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the Georgian Dream ruling party, on Thursday reacted to recent calls by the presidents of Ukraine and Moldova over the release of imprisoned former president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili on humanitarian grounds, stressing the words of [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy would not be “highly-valued” by the Georgian authorities, while advising Maia Sandu to “look after” her sixth convicted president. 

In his comments Kobakhidze reiterated the current Ukrainian authorities “had ensured” Saakashvili’s transportation to Georgia via a “sour-cream container” in September 2021 to “spark unrest” in the country and later “drag” Georgia into the potential Russia-Ukraine conflict. 

The politician named Gia Lortkipanidze, a former law enforcement official under Saakashvili’s United National Movement government, who currently serves in the Ukrainian intelligence unit, behind the developments last year, ahead of Georgia’s municipal elections. 

He claimed Zelenskyy’s government was “directly involved” in the “special operation”, with the statements of his advisers Mykhailo Podolyak and Oleksiy Arestovych, as well as Oleksiy Danilov, the Secretary of the National Security, pointing to Kyiv’s desire to see Georgia involved in hostilities. 

Kobakhidze also said Zelenskyy had recalled the ambassador from Georgia “without any justification”, and the position still remained vacant. 

“Have Danilov or Podolyak apologized for their [unfounded] claims? They are the closest people to Zelenskyy, none of them have apologized so far and none of them took back their words. Therefore, these words are valid”, Kobakhidze said. 

Responding to Zelenskyy’s recent visit to the United States, he said Ukraine was at war [with Russia] and it was an “act of solidarity” by the US authorities.