Parliament speaker explains reasons for refusal to arrive in Kyiv on war anniversary

Georgian parliament speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Monday pointed to his country’s “highest support” for Ukraine despite the presence of Russian troops in Georgia and non-membership of either NATO or the EU. 

The official made the comments in the legislative body following the criticism of the opposition MP Giorgi Vashadze, who on Monday said the Georgian parliamentary delegation had rejected Kyiv’s invitation to attend the events dedicated to the war anniversary. 

Papuashvili claimed the invitation had been raised during the latest communication of the parliamentary friendship groups, noting the exchange had highlighted Georgia’s “very strong support” for Ukraine considering these challenges. 

The official stressed Tbilisi had been “most vocal” in support of Ukraine in all international platforms and that “none of the cases had been confirmed” that Russia was able to evade sanctions with the use of the Georgian territory or its banking sector. 

He also slammed domestic opposition figures and  those Ukrainian officials who had raised such “fake accusations”, and stressed the “unfounded claims” were “disappointing”.