A new scandal is brewing between Georgia and Ukraine. Harsh criticism followed the comments made by a Ukrainian presidential adviser, political and military columnist Oleksiy Arestovych, who argued that "Georgia is a sovereign state and the Georgian people determine how Georgia conducts its policy towards Ukraine. Ukraine does not interfere in your sovereign policy. You are an independent state and have always been a friendly state of Ukraine. But the Georgian people will evaluate your policies and statements during the elections. This is my fiery greeting".

The Georgian side responded promptly. Mikheil Kavelashvili, a member of the Georgian Dream parliamentary majority said that if Arestovych, Arakhamia or Podoliak think that the Georgian people do not see their coordinated action of the "fifth column" operating in Georgia, they are very bitterly mistaken. He also added that the recent statements of the "hot heads" in the Ukrainian government not only go beyond ethics and friendship, but also take a very dangerous tendency and directly stir up anti-Ukrainian sentiments in the country between both people.

The First Vice Speaker of the Parliament Gia Volski stated that the statements made by Alexei Arestovych are disinformation, insulting to Georgia and based on a treacherous conspiracy created by Mikheil Saakashvili. In addition to Arestovych, Volsky also responded to Mikhail Podolyak, an adviser to the head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, who commented on a Transparency International-Georgia poll on Instagram that "de-oligarchization awaits all pro-Russian oligarch."

The scandal is yet another round of tensions which developed in bilateral relations over the past three months since the invasion of Ukraine began in late February. Newly-appointed Georgian Foreign Minister Davit Darchiashvili also commented on the tensions arguing that “traditionally, as before, the government of Georgia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia are doing everything possible within our capabilities to provide maximum assistance to our friend Ukraine in this difficult period. This process has been going on and will definitely continue.”

The tensions are set to continue as Ukraine pressures Georgia into taking a more radical approach to Russia: joining the anti-Russian sanctions or using the opportunity of Russian military withdrawal from the two occupied Georgian territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and make a military move in this direction. The Georgian Dream party links this discussion to Mikheil Saakashvili’s United National Movement.

The relations, however, are not as negative as there are also positive statements made by both sides trying to salvage the situation. Speaker of the Parliament Shalva Papuashvili on April 28th in an interview with the Georgian Public Broadcaster discussed the provision of military assistance to Ukraine and opening a second front in Georgia as an impossible decision. He said that Georgia has “a fairly clear and unequivocal stance on the sanctions [against Russia] – and that they will not be bypassed [by using Georgian territory]. [There are two issues where Georgia cannot participate. This is military assistance [to Ukraine] and opening a second front in Georgia for the conflict. If there are any complaints about these two issues, we can confidently say that we will certainly not accept these complaints”.

These statements were followed by Ruslan Stefanchuk, the Ukrainian Speaker of the Parliament, who on April 29th thanked the speakers of parliaments of foreign countries, including his Georgian counterpart, who have visited Ukraine to express their support in the face of Russian aggression. Stefanchuk said the Ukrainian Parliament was “actively working” in parliamentary diplomacy to gain support of parliamentarians from around the world and encourage them to take action following the invasion of the country by Russian forces in February.

On top of this mixed rhetoric, the politicians from the ruling party also argue that Georgia has been doing more than others. For instance, Georgia ranked first in humanitarian aid delivered to Ukraine among states that sent their packages via mail. As of April 20, over 520 tons of aid were delivered by the postage company to Ukraine, with Georgian-originating packages followed by Romania with more than 80 tons of parcels and Belgium with 80 tons, based on the Ukrposhta national post figures.