President: I'm Ready to Visit Ukraine, to Restore our Friendly Relations

The President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili has expressed readiness to visit Ukraine as soon as possible to "Try to restore bilateral relations and the traditional friendship between the two countries."

She made the corresponding statement at an event dedicated to Georgia’s fight against the coronavirus, organized by the Geocase analytical organization on Friday.

Zurabishvili noted that the statements made by former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, who currently chairs the Executive Committee of the Ukrainian National Reforms Council, are "affecting bilateral relations."

"We all know how important our partnership with Ukraine is, a country with which we share a common past and a common road to Euro-Atlantic integration. Any attempt to weaken this partnership at a time when the EU is to review the Eastern Partnership, the place of the associated members and their future when designing the whole general future of EU relationship with its partners, will only weaken our two countries, Georgia and Ukraine’s influence in this very decisive debate at a very important time,” she said. 

In her words, "The provocative tone towards Georgia’s Government, including characterizing the government as illegitimate, coming from a foreign citizen serving a foreign government, is adversely affecting our bilateral relations."

"I personally am ready as soon as possible to carry out a visit that has been postponed for only too long, principally due COVID-19, but maybe not only, and try to restore our relations on a basis that corresponds to the traditional bond of friendship between our countries," the President said, adding that "Such a relationship is crucial to our common path towards EU and NATO, and also in view of the renewed importance of the Black Sea projects depending on a common approach of Georgia and Ukraine together with our European partners, Romania and Bulgaria, and of course our neighbor Turkey."

By Ana Dumbadze