Irakli Kobakhidze addresses Zelenskyy's statement

On December 21, in response to the Ukrainian President's request to send Mikheil Saakashvili abroad for treatment, Georgian Dream Chairman Irakli Kobakhidze stated that Volodymyr Zelenskyy also bears some responsibility for Saakashvili because the Ukrainian government was directly involved in the special operation to send Saakashvili to Georgia, which fortunately failed.

According to Kobakhidze, the people who brought him to Georgia are active in order to release Saakashvili. "During this entire period, we said that the people who brought Mikheil Saakashvili to Georgia are actively seeking his release. They have a kind of responsibility towards Saakashvili. They brought Saakashvili to Georgia, and they feel this responsibility. This statement by Zelenskyy only confirmed everything we have been saying all this time. The government of Ukraine was directly involved in the special operation to send Saakashvili to Georgia, which fortunately failed, and he also has his share of responsibility towards Saakashvili," Kobakhidze added.

Kyiv accuses the Georgian government

On December 20, Oleg Nikolenko, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry's Spokesman, stated, "We are profoundly disturbed that Georgian authorities are speculating on the war in Ukraine to accomplish their limited internal political ambitions."

"Georgian politicians use speculations to attempt to erase their responsibility for egregious human rights abuses in Georgia," Oleg Nikolenko said, adding that Ukraine has never engaged and does not plan to meddle in Georgia's domestic affairs.

Additionally, Nikolenko urged the Georgian government to provide Dmytro Lubinets, the Commissioner for Human Rights for the Ukrainian Parliament, access to Saakashvili and to give the Ukrainian national the necessary medical care. "We also demand that his sentencing be delayed so that he can be transferred to a clinic in the United States, Western Europe, or Ukraine to receive treatment," the official continued.

Comments from Georgian Dream and opposition

Giorgi Vashadze, the leader of Strategy Aghmashenebeli, stated, "Hence, if Georgian Dream says anything about Georgia's involvement in the war, please remind them of the official position of the Ukrainian government: nobody wants Georgia's involvement in the war!" According to Vashadze, Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has answered all questions on this topic, and all speculations are over. "Georgian Dream's months-long attacks relating to its involvement in the war have ended with an official letter to the Ukrainian authorities and Western partners," he added. "The issue of Mikheil Saakashvili is being discussed at a higher and higher level. Since it has become necessary, we should ensure that the world's leaders are involved in solving the issue, be it the presidents or those whom the Georgian Dream cannot refuse, not because of state interests but because they will be personally afraid to refuse," Giorgi Vashadze said.

Nikoloz Samkharadze, the chairman of the Parliament's Foreign Relations Committee, said, "I would like to remind the Ukrainian authorities of the statements of Podolyak, Arestovych, and Danilov. It would be good if the official structures of Ukraine would clearly distance themselves from the statements of these people!"

Samkharadze mentioned: "He has discussed this topic with his Ukrainian colleagues many times; their answer is that these people do not represent the official position of Ukraine; therefore, according to Samkharadze, "there is a little uncertainty from this point of view."

"I would like to remind the authorities and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine of the statements of their high-ranking officials that we have been hearing all this time regarding the start of the war in Georgia. I would like to remind them of the statements of Podolyak, Arestovych, and Danilov. If they do not agree with these statements and distance themselves from them, this is very good, and we are happy. But we did not even hear the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine that they disagreed with their statement. "If these people are not officials, then we would like to listen to the explanations of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry in order to know who is speaking on behalf of Ukraine," the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Parliament emphasized.