Explaining Tbilisi's refusal of military assistance to Kyiv, Georgian Deputy Prime Minister Tea Tsulukiani stated that Georgia does not want to be drawn into a military conflict. 

"There is only one answer: the Georgian authorities will not allow the state of Georgia to be involved in a military confrontation. As a result, we will not provide military assistance to any of the parties to the military conflict, especially since, as far as I know, we are discussing the transfer of such weapons that we have acquired, but this is just a detail," Tsulukiani said. 

Notably, according to the article published by Andrii Kasianov, the Ukrainian Chargé d'Affaires in Georgia, in the Ukrainian media, Kyiv asked Tbilisi to hand over the "Buk" missiles, which were given to Georgia by Ukraine during the 2008 war. According to him, Ukraine's request included the Javelin systems transferred by the United States of America to Georgia. Regarding the latter, there was not only consent from the United States but even a proposal to replace them with new complexes.

As previously reported by Caucasus Watch, the Georgian Defense Ministry reported that the information that Ukraine handed over "Buk" air defense systems to Georgia for free was incorrect. Ministry stated, "The Defense agency received the 'Buk' system in 2007 with a multi-million-dollar purchase. This was done under a secret agreement, which is why they are deprived of the opportunity to specify more details."

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Georgian Defense Ministry Refuses Claims on Free "Buk" Air Defense Systems Sent from Ukraine to Georgia in 2008

Georgia Refused Ukraine's Request to Return 2008 War-Era Military Equipment