Ukraine asked the Georgian authorities to return the Buk anti-aircraft missile systems, which Kyiv handed over to Tbilisi in 2008, but was refused.

This was announced by Charge d'Affaires of Ukraine in Georgia Andriy Kasyanov.

“The Ukrainian side is consistent in its requests to international partners, including Georgia, regarding the provision of weapons, military equipment and ammunition, and also openly declared the vital need for weapons ... In particular, Kyiv asked to transfer the Buk complexes, which were transferred by Ukraine to Georgia during the 2008 war,” Kasyanov wrote in his article for the European Pravda publication.

In addition, according to the diplomat, Kyiv asked Tbilisi to transfer American Javelin anti-tank systems to it.

“Regarding the latter, there was not only agreement from the United States, but even a proposal to replace them with newer systems,” Kasyanov said.

However, Georgia refused to meet Ukraine halfway in these matters, the Chargé d'Affaires stressed.

At the same time, he rejected Tbilisi's accusations against Kyiv that the Ukrainian leadership is trying to draw Georgia into a confrontation with the Russian Federation.

“Despite the fact that the Georgian government has categorically refused to provide military assistance, Ukraine opposes the use of this issue in internal political contradictions and rejects any accusations of trying to drag Georgia into a war with Russia,” Kasyanov said.

In general, he stated that relations between Ukraine and Georgia are now going through "a rather difficult period."

Without sanctions and weapons

Recall that earlier representatives of the Georgian authorities have repeatedly emphasized that the country does not intend to send weapons to Ukraine.

On December 6, Mamuka Mdinaradze, chairman of the ruling faction of the Georgian Dream parliament, said that the republic cannot provide military assistance to Ukraine, since Tbilisi has its own “problems” in the form of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, whose independence the Georgian authorities have not recognized since 2008.

At the same time, Mdinaradze added that Georgia provides full political support to Ukraine, and also sends humanitarian aid to Kyiv "beyond its capabilities."

  • Irakli Garibashvili

  • AP

  • © Petr David Josek

The next day, the position of the Georgian authorities was confirmed by Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili.

“As for military assistance (to Ukraine. -

RT

), we clearly said about this that we will not do this.

We, as a state, will never get involved in... a conflict.

This is our clear position, ”TASS quoted him as saying.

The politician added that Ukraine has repeatedly appealed to Georgia openly and behind closed doors with a request to open a second front against the Russian Federation, but the authorities of the republic will not agree to this.

In addition to the reluctance to supply weapons to Kyiv, Georgia also refused to impose sanctions against the Russian Federation.

Garibashvili announced this on February 25, 2022, arguing this decision with the national interests of the country.

At the same time, according to Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili, Tbilisi participates in all international financial sanctions that have been imposed against the Russian Federation.

She said this in March 2022 in an interview with CNN.

Despite the words of Zurabishvili, Tbilisi's position caused serious discontent in Kyiv.

In early March, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky even recalled the ambassador to Tbilisi, Igor Dolgov, “for the immoral position” of the Georgian authorities on the issue of sanctions and for preventing them from sending volunteers to Ukraine.

In Georgia itself, the government's policy of non-intervention is supported by the majority of the population.

According to a survey conducted by the Gorbi Research Center from November 17 to 30, 2022, 81% of respondents supported the decision of the ruling Georgian Dream party not to interfere in the conflict in Ukraine.

"Keep Neutral"


It is worth noting that relations between Kyiv and Tbilisi seriously deteriorated even before the start of the NWO - after the return of the country's ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili to Georgia.

Previously, he received Ukrainian citizenship and took an active part in the political life of Ukraine, while in Georgia several criminal cases were opened against him, in two of which he was sentenced to prison terms.

  • Detention of Mikheil Saakashvili in Georgia

  • AFP

  • © GEORGIA INTERIOR MINISTRY

In the fall of 2021, Saakashvili left Ukraine and secretly arrived in Georgia on October 1, the day before the municipal elections.

Through social networks, the former president called on fellow citizens to “protect their votes” when counting ballots, and on October 3 to go to Freedom Square, from which the Rose Revolution began in 2003.

But Georgian law enforcement agencies arrested Saakashvili and placed him in a prison in the city of Rustavi.

After that, Kyiv repeatedly called on the Georgian authorities to transfer Saakashvili to Ukraine.

However, in Tbilisi, these demands were refused, calling them interference in the internal affairs of the state.

In addition, the Georgian leadership believes that representatives of the Ukrainian authorities were directly involved in sending Saakashvili to Georgia.

In a conversation with Georgian journalists, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said that the fugitive ex-president arrived in the country precisely to prepare for the opening of a second front against Russia.

According to analysts, the purpose of Saakashvili's return to Georgia was to overthrow the current authorities so that the new leadership of the republic would continue to act in the interests of Ukraine.

And Tbilisi understands this.

“Britain or the United States stood behind this action of Ukraine.

It was assumed that this was to create a revolutionary situation in Georgia, that Saakashvili would receive the support of supporters.

Most likely, some work was carried out to create a protest base for the subsequent overthrow of the authorities.

But the plan failed, and Saakashvili ended up in prison, ”Vadim Kozyulin, head of the Center for Global Studies and International Relations of the IAMP Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said in a comment to RT.

This situation, experts believe, added fuel to the fire, further complicating relations between Kyiv and Tbilisi, and became another reason for the Georgian leadership to distance themselves from the conflict in Ukraine.

“Georgia is being urged to open a second front to divert the Russian army.

But the leadership of the republic refrains from hostile actions, because they already had a negative experience of confrontation with Russia.

Georgia is now trying to remain neutral so as not to get involved in a new big conflict,” Kozyulin said.

In turn, Vladimir Olenchenko, senior researcher at the Center for European Studies at IMEMO RAS, said in an interview with RT that Georgia is trying to avoid participating in the confrontation with the Russian Federation, as it understands that this will only harm Tbilisi.

“Georgia does not have sufficient internal stability and economic independence to sacrifice them for Ukrainian interests.

Georgia has close economic ties with Russia and, I think, there is a clear understanding that if Moscow takes retaliatory steps, this will have an extremely negative impact on the interests of the republic, including in the field of economy,” the expert concluded.