Shalva Papuashvili, the Georgian Parliament Speaker, on Monday claimed the European Union was not asking Georgia to impose sanctions on Russia for its ongoing invasion of Ukraine for granting its candidate status to Tbilisi in December. 

"The European Union does not ask Georgia to impose sanctions on Russia. If it was requested, it [the bloc] should have provided guarantees of military and economic security," Papuashvili said in response to the latest claims by Rikard Jozwiak, the Radio Liberty Journalist, that the EU’s main condition for Georgia’s EU candidacy would be Tbilisi’s imposing sanctions on Russia. 

Papuashvili reaffirmed “everyone understands” imposing individual sanctions on Russia would be “catastrophic” for the Georgian economy. 

Tbilisi has joined international sanctions imposed on Russia, but refused to impose individual sanctions on Moscow, citing security threats amid the ongoing occupation of the country’s territories and “severe” economic consequences.