Ukraine must show willingness to repair ties with Georgia, ruling party MP

Ruling Georgian Dream party MP Levan Machavariani has said Georgia could not forget what he described as “injustice” committed by the Ukrainian authorities towards the country, adding that Kyiv should demonstrate a willingness to repair relations.

Speaking on the television programme Imedi LIVE this week, Machavariani said there were “many reasons” why Ukraine might seek to correct what he called past mistakes in its relations with Georgia.

He argued that Georgia holds strategic importance because of its geographical location and other factors, some of which he said were not appropriate to discuss publicly.

Machavariani further noted that the Ukrainian authorities should reconsider their approach and take practical steps to show they want to improve relations.

“That is the prerequisite for relations to recover and for friendly ties to begin,” he said, adding that it would be “impossible” to forget all disagreements immediately and restore close relations overnight.

The ruling party lawmaker also said there was a “lengthy list” of mistakes that, in his view, the Ukrainian government had made in relation to Georgia, and stressed that Tbilisi expected to see efforts aimed at correcting them.