Zelenskyy’s claims on Saakashvili “insulting”, Tbilisi in “one-sided friendship” with Kyiv – ruling party head

Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday said Ukrainian president’s claims on Monday that “Russia was killing” Mikheil Saakashvili, the former Georgian president and a Ukrainian citizen, “at the hands of the Georgian government, were “insulting”, claiming Tbilisi was maintaining “one-sided friendship” with Kyiv amid “unfounded allegations”. 

 

In his press comments, Kabakhidze also said Kyiv’s attempts to extradite Saakashvili were also “insulting” as “several, high-ranking Ukrainian officials” had facilitated Saakashvili’s return to Georgia in 2021 after eight years to “spark unrest” in the country.

 

Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday tweeted he had tasked the foreign office to summon the Georgian ambassador and send him to Tbilisi in the coming hours to hold consultations over Saakashvili’s extradition. 

 

His statement came following a trial hearing in Tbilisi during the day involving Saakashvili, who looked very thin, accusing the government of damaging his health. 

 

In his comments Kobakhidze reiterated Saakashvili was “staging a show” and had been engaged in “harmful, anti-state campaign” to facilitate his release from prison. 

 

He added since his arrest the former official had been engaged in “self-harm”, with the support of his family, refusing to eat properly to escape justice, adding the ECHR ruling in May, which rejected Saakashvili’s transfer abroad on health grounds, had confirmed the stance.