Deterioration of Saakashviliʼs condition: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia is “concerned” by Ukraineʼs offer to return the Georgian ambassador to Tbilisi

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia responded to the call of its ambassador in Kyiv in connection with the situation surrounding the Ukrainian citizen, the former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili.

In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs "expresses deep concern" over Ukraineʼs proposal to return to the Georgian ambassador in Tbilisi for consultations, which is "an extreme form of escalation of diplomatic relations."

Tbilisi recalled that the European Court of Human Rights had previously rejected Saakashviliʼs request to go abroad for treatment, and the decision of the Ukrainian authorities was called one that "significantly harms the strategic relations of the two countries and is a direct interference in the internal affairs of the state."

The agency hopes that Kyiv will reconsider the decision, and promises to "refrain from additional reaction in response to Ukraineʼs steps."

• On July 3, the imprisoned ex-president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili participated in a court hearing for the first time since February this year, connecting online from the Vivamed clinic. He looked extremely exhausted and thin.
• President Zelensky called on the Georgian authorities to hand over Mikheil Saakashvili to Ukraine for treatment, and on the partners to "not ignore this situation and save this person." He also instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to summon the Georgian ambassador to Ukraine, express his protest and offer to consult with the official Tbilisi.
• On July 4, the Georgian ambassador was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. He was offered to return to Tbilisi for consultations to resolve the situation around Saakashvili.
• Saakashvili has been imprisoned since October 2021, and he has been in the hospital for the past few months. The politician asks for permission to go abroad for treatment. In Georgia, he was convicted in absentia in the cases of the murder of a banker and the beating of a deputy, and also appears in the case of the dispersal of an opposition rally on November 7, 2007 and the pogrom of the "Imedi" television company.