The Georgian ambassador to Ukraine, who was recalled for consultations in May 2020 in connection with the situation related to former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, will be sent back to Kyiv in the near future.
The decision to bring the Georgian ambassador back to Kyiv will be made shortly, Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani said on the Rustavi 2 television channel on Saturday. “This is the wrong time and the wrong circumstance – tensions escalating around Ukraine – to not have our ambassador in place,” Zalkaliani said, adding that Georgia would seek dynamic development of relations with Ukraine.
“We have a lot of common challenges, bilateral relations have been affected, but we are a state and we act to the benefit of state interests,” Zalkaliani said, adding that Ukraine took Georgia’s decision to recall its ambassador with understanding.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry recalled Ambassador Teimuraz Sharashenidze from Kyiv for consultations in May 2020 after former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili (2004-2013) was naturalized by Ukraine and took charge of the Executive Committee of Ukraine’s National Reform Council. Tbilisi explained its demarche with the appointment of a person convicted in Georgia to an official position in Ukraine in contradiction to the spirit of bilateral cooperation. In addition, the Georgian authorities repeatedly called Kyiv’s attention to the fact that Saakashvili kept interfering in Georgia’s internal affairs.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky made changes to the composition of the Coordination Council for solving problems in urban planning, excluding Head of the Executive Committee of the National Reforms Council of Ukraine Mikheil Saakashvili, and appointed Giorgi Tskhakaia to be expert on the committee.
The head of state signed relevant decree No. 87/2021 on March 4, according to the presidential website.
Earlier, the president appointed Olena Shuliak as head of the Coordination Council. Head of the Coordination Center for ensuring interaction with the Cabinet of Ministers Volodymyr Kladiyev has been appointed its secretary.
COUNCIL FOR SOLVING PROBLEMS, MIKHEIL SAAKASHVILI, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE, SOLVING PROBLEMS
