TBILISI, January 10. /TASS/. Georgia will not send back Buk missile systems to Ukraine, because the South Caucasian country bought them rather than received them allegedly for free in 2008, the Georgian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.

Ukraine’s European Pravda online newspaper published an article on Monday in which Andrey Kasyanov, Ukraine’s temporary charge d’affaires to Georgia, said that Ukraine had asked Georgia to send back Buk systems Kiev had transferred to Tbilisi in 2008. The Ukrainian diplomat said Kiev had also asked Tbilisi to give it the Javelin missile systems Georgia had received from the United States. According to Kasyanov, Washington had given its consent and was ready to send newer systems to Georgia as a replacement.

"The information that Ukraine gave Buk missile systems to Georgia for free is not true. The Defense Ministry obtained Buk systems through millions worth of a purchase in 2007. This [transaction] was made under a secret contract, therefore we do not have further details," Georgia’s top brass said.

In early December 2022, Kasyanov said that Kiev had repeatedly asked Tbilisi to send over military or dual-purpose hardware, but that such requests had been ignored. The diplomat also said Ukraine had requested electric generators from Georgia, too. In late December, the Georgian government bought 25 pieces and supplied them to Ukraine.