US ambassador on Georgian volunteers in Ukraine: we know clearly which side the people of Georgia are on

When the people of Georgia extend their generous humanitarian assistance to support the people of Ukraine, who are fighting for their country and their identity, I think we know clearly which side the people of Georgia are on, US Ambassador Kelly Degnan said on Friday in response to journalists’ questions over the reports on a possible revoke of Georgian citizenship for the country’s volunteers fighting in Ukraine against Russia. 

“I think it is clear the side the people of Georgia have taken, and that is in solidarity with the Ukrainian people. Ukraine is fighting for its sovereignty. It’s fighting for its territorial integrity. It’s fighting for its existence as a country, its identity as a people. These are all things that Georgians know deeply from your own experience with Russian aggression, from your own experience with Russia trying to take your identity away, taking your territory away, trying to take your sovereignty away”, said the ambassador in her remarks while in Kutaisi university of western Georgia. 

In response to the issue of currently imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili, the diplomat said “we are following Saakashvili’s case very closely”. 

“We commend the work of the Public Defender’s Office, which has done an exemplary job of monitoring his situation and ensuring that his rights are protected, visiting him twice in the last week.  Ultimately it is the government’s responsibility to ensure that Mr. Saakashvili’s physical and mental health is protected, that his medical needs are met, and that his rights are protected, including a fair trial”, she said. 

The trial on Saakashvili’s release on medical grounds will take place today in Tbilisi City Court.