Ukraine ready to accept Saakashvili, ensure his safety, treatment – Podolyak

Mykhailo Podolyak, the Ukrainian presidential adviser, on Tuesday said his country was ready to accept imprisoned former president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, who holds Ukrainian citizenship, and ensure his safety and “proper treatment”. 

“Impossible to watch a person you know dying on TV live. Impossible to watch how the history of Georgia and its president is being killed in front of the civilized world”, the official tweeted. 

Saakashvili chaired the executive committee of the Ukrainian national reforms council before his arrest in Tbilisi in October 2021, just ahead of domestic municipal elections. 

He claimed he returned after eight-years in self-imposed political exile to help his United National Movement party retake the office via elections, in contrast to the claims of the Georgian Dream authorities that the former official wished to spark unrest and later drag Georgia into the Russia-Ukraine conflict.