Georgia–Ukraine Relations

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Mikheil Saakashvili attending Tbilisi City Court remotely on 3 July. Image via Netgazeti.

Georgia

Zelensky orders Georgian ambassador to return to Tbilisi to consult over Saakashvili

by Tata Shoshiashvili

•2 min read

Ukraine has summoned the Georgian Ambassador to the country and ordered him to return to Georgia to consult with his government over Ukraine’s demand to hand over Mikheil Saakashvili. On Monday, President Volodymyr Zelensky again called on the Georgian authorities to hand over the imprisoned third president of Georgia, who holds Ukrainian citizenship. Zelensky said that Georgian Ambassador Giorgi Zakarashvili would be asked to return to Georgia within 48 hours. In a tweet on Monday, Zelen

Georgia

Georgian PM lashes out at ‘anarchists’, Ukraine, and EU following foreign agent U-turn

by Shota Kincha

•4 min read

Georgia’s Prime Minister described last week’s foreign agent law protests as a ‘big conspiracy’, accused young people of having been manipulated, and described police actions against protesters as ‘faultless’ in an interview on Sunday. In his first extensive commentary since the ruling Georgian Dream party yielded to street demonstrations and dropped the ‘foreign agent’ draft law, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili praised the Interior Ministry for ‘perfectly planning and executing’

Tens of thousands of people flocked to Tbilisi’s central Rustaveli Avenue on 24 February 2023 to show support for Ukraine on the anniversary of the Russian invasion. Photo: Mariam Nikradze/OC Media.

Georgia

Thousands rally in Georgia on anniversary of Russian invasion of Ukraine

by Shota Kincha

•6 min read

Tens of thousands of people gathered in Tbilisi, including Ukrainian refugees, to express solidarity with Ukraine a year after it began its successful resistance of Russia’s full-scale invasion. The gathering outside parliament in central Tbilisi on Friday was joined by a group of Ukrainians who marched from the end of Rustaveil Avenue, and by groups of students marching from Tbilisi State University. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko addressed the crowd outside Parliament via video link, tha

Georgia–Ukraine Relations

Podcast | Lachin corridor closure and Georgia–Ukraine tensions

by OC Media

•1 min read

Arman Grigoryan, an associate professor of International Relations at Lehigh University, discusses the closure of the Lachin corridor and its implications for Nagorno-Karabakh. Read more: * Lachin corridor blocked by Azerbaijani ‘eco-activists’ Mariam Nikuradze discusses the latest updates on Georgia–Ukraine relations, as the ruling Georgian Dream party threatens to strip Georgian volunteers in Ukraine of their citizenship. Read more: * Georgian Government threat

Bidzina Ivanishvili

Ukraine sanctions Ivanishvili’s relatives and ‘business partners’

by Shota Kincha

•5 min read

Ukraine has sanctioned four close relatives of the billionaire founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party and former prime minister, Bidzina Ivanishvili. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has sanctioned relatives of Georgian ex-Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili and several Georgian businesspersons, according to a decree dated 19 October. A list of 256 individuals identified for sanctions by Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council includes the former PM’s brother, Aleksandre Iv

Ivanishvili at a press conference in 2013. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media

Bidzina Ivanishvili

Ukraine calls for sanctions against Bidzina Ivanishvili

by Shota Kincha

•2 min read

Ukraine’s anti-corruption agency added Georgia’s ‘informal ruler’, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, his close associates, and several Georgian businessmen to a list of persons ‘awaiting sanctions’ for their alleged ties to Russia and its military campaign against Ukraine. On 5 September, War and Sanctions, an official Ukrainian database of individuals that are alleged to have ties with Russia, called on world governments to impose sanctions on former Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishv

Iralki Kobakhidze. Illustration: Shota Kincha/OC Media.

Feature Stories

Irakli Kobakhidze: The face of Georgia’s turn from the West

by Shota Kincha

•8 min read

Since Russia invaded Ukraine five months ago, the head of Georgia’s ruling party, Irakli Kobakhidze, has had a lot to say. OC Media counted the number of times the Georgian Dream chair had harsh words for Russia, and compared this to his criticism reserved for Ukraine and the West. On 24 February, hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a military invasion of Ukraine, Irakli Kobakhidze rushed to Facebook to express his solidarity with Ukrainians. While not explicitly mentioning