Vladimir Zelensky instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine to summon the Ambassador of Georgia and present him with a note.
In addition, the President ordered the Foreign Ministry to strongly recommend that the diplomat return to Tbilisi for consultations.
The reason for this was the recently released photographs of former Georgian leader Mikheil Saakashvili, now in custody in Georgia.
Zelensky’s instructions
Zelensky said that Kyiv has repeatedly called on Tbilisi to “stop this mockery and agree on the return of Saakashvili to Ukraine.”
According to him, Ukraine’s “partners in coordination” also offered their options for saving the Georgian politician.
Today I instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to summon the Ambassador of Georgia, express a strong protest to him and offer him to leave Ukraine within 48 hours for consultations with his capital, the head of state of the Rossiya Segodnya news agency.
What’s wrong with Saakashvili?
Earlier, on July 3, after a long break, Mikheil Saakashvili took part in a hearing of the Tbilisi City Court in the case of the dispersal of a rally in 2007.
In the footage, he looks almost unrecognizable – extremely thin and tired.
Taking advantage of the moment, Saakashvili appealed to the Georgian authorities to apologize to him for what he said had brought him to exhaustion.
What is the ex-president accused of?
It was under Vladimir Zelensky that the Georgian politician was restored to Ukrainian citizenship, which he was deprived of in 2017.
In October 2021, he was detained in Georgia. They were convicted in absentia in the cases of the murder of banker Sandro Girgvliani and the beating of deputy Valery Gelashvili.
Saakashvili is also a defendant in the case of the dispersal of an opposition rally on November 7, 2007.
In addition, he is suspected of involvement in events related to the pogrom of the Imedi television company, embezzlement of funds from the state budget and illegal border crossing.
