President cites “not completely satisfactory” relations between government behind her non-invitation to Kyiv

The Georgian president has cited “not completely satisfactory relations at this stage between the governmental circles” of Georgia and Ukraine behind her non-invitation to Ukraine since the launch of Russia’s full-scale invasion last year. 

 

In an interview with Ukrainska Pravda published on Thursday, Salome Zourabichvili claimed she had been ready “all the time” to come to Kyiv, “and I am  ready today. So, if you can pass on the message, I can come tomorrow”. 

 

On the question whether she had received any invitations from Kyiv, Zourabichvili responded “ not yet. I think it hasn’t been organised yet”. 

 

In comments on the Georgian government’s stance on Russia, Zourabichvili said 20 percent of her country’s territories were occupied by Russia and Tbilisi was unable to confront it, but stressed it “must be resolute” in its positions. 

 

Since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war, the parliamentary delegation of Georgia has visited Ukraine once, while the representatives of the country’s executive power – the prime minister and the president – have paid no visit to the war-torn country unlike many European leaders.

 

In August last year, Zourabichvili participated in the second summit of the Crimea Platform held online.

 

The platform was created by the initiative of the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in  a bid to improve the effectiveness of the international response to the ongoing occupation of Crimea, respond to growing security threats, increase international pressure on the Kremlin, de-occupy Crimea and return it to Ukraine.

 

Representatives of more than 50 countries and international organizations participated in the second summit of the Crimean Platform.