On July 4, the Georgian Foreign Ministry expressed deep concern over the Ukrainian government's decision to request that the ambassador leave within 48 hours so that there may be meetings in the nation's capital. The foreign ministry claims this move "represents an extreme form of escalation of diplomatic relations."

The foreign ministry cited the Strasbourg court ruling, which put an end to speculation about the health of the convicted Mikheil Saakashvili and confirmed the highest standards of protection of Mikheil Saakashvili's rights by the state in its statement, saying that the reasons given by the Ukrainian authorities make this decision particularly incomprehensible. The information stated the hope that official Kyiv would reconsider its decision and make efforts further to develop the historically friendly relations between the two countries. "Against the background of such developments, the decision of the Ukrainian authorities significantly harms the strategic relations of the two countries and constitutes a direct interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state," the statement reads.

The foreign ministry recalled Georgia's support for Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty on a bilateral and global scale, noting that Georgia's diplomatic mission in Ukraine has carried on even through the most challenging times, such as the continuing conflict. 

On the same day, regarding the decision of the President of Ukraine, who called the Georgian Ambassador to Ukraine to leave the country to hold consultations with the Georgian authorities, Irakli Kobakhidze, the chairman of Georgian Dream, said that the position of the Ukrainian government is, of course, offensive to us - we wish to remain even in a one-sided friendship mode with the Ukrainian government because this country is currently in a state of war.

Kobakhidze noted, "It was insulting that certain high-ranking officials of the Ukrainian government were involved in Saakashvili's arrival in Georgia, and now the representatives of the same government demand his handover to Ukraine, which is also insulting. As for yesterday's step of the President of Ukraine, which was related to Mikheil Saakashvili, I don't want to go deep into this topic for the simple reason that the topic concerns the President of a country that is in a state of war. But in general, this position of the government is, of course, offensive to us. It was insulting in itself that, as our opponents themselves admitted, specific high-ranking Ukrainian government officials were involved in sending Saakashvili to Georgia, and today the same government demands Saakashvili's return to Ukraine. This, of course, contains signs of insult, although I do not want to go deeper than that. We desire to remain even in a one-sided friendship mode with the Ukrainian government because this country is currently in a state of war," Kobakhidze said.

According to Dmytro Kuleba, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, after the publication of the footage of Mikheil Saakashvili's trial, everything reached a boiling point, which is why Kyiv took a sharp but fair step. "When the state is dissatisfied with something, the first reaction is protest. The second is to summon the ambassador for consultations, and the third level of reaction, several steps higher in severity, is to ask the ambassador of that country to leave Ukraine for consultations with his government. This is an extremely harsh form of diplomacy, but the government of Georgia deserves it," Kuleba said.

According to him, the Georgian ambassador will be summoned, after which they will have a proper conversation with him. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine stated that the Georgian authorities want to execute Saakashvili out of personal hatred and revenge, and they are acting in the old Stalinist way. "If they consider Saakashvili a threat to domestic politics - let him leave Georgia, let him live peacefully in Ukraine or another country in the world, and you can continue to live there, get closer to Russia if you want, but we see a blind, just cruel policy - to bring him to his death," the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine noted.

Moreover, Mikheil Saakashvili writes that President Zelenskyy demonstrated the highest standard of humanity and what a difference from the usual cynical politicians elsewhere. "I've spent most of my life in Ukraine, I speak Ukrainian, and I am a proud citizen of fighting Ukraine," Saakashvili added.