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Georgian ambassador to Kiev says decision on his expulsion harms bilateral relations

According to the diplomat, during his visit to the Ukrainian foreign ministry he informed the Ukrainian side about his country’s position on Saakashvili’s health

TBILISI, July 6. /TASS/. Georgian Ambassador to Ukraine Georgy Zakarashvili said on Wednesday that Ukraine’s decision to expel him from the country in connection with the situation linked with the health condition of Georgia’s former President Mikhail Saakashvili is harmful for the two countries’ relations.

"This (the decision to expel the ambassador - TASS) hampers the development of bilateral relations and, hence, poses certain problems, including for communication," he said in an interview with Georgia’s Imedi television channel.

According to the diplomat, during his visit to the Ukrainian foreign ministry he informed the Ukrainian side about his country’s position on Saakashvili’s health. Thus, he noted that allegations about Saakashvili’s deteriorated health are not true.

Former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili looked emaciated on Monday when participating via video link in a Tbilisi City Court hearing involving a case about the dispersal of a rally in 2007. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky later instructed the country’s foreign ministry to summon Georgian Ambassador to Kiev Georgy Zakarashvili and tell him to leave the country in 48 hours for consultations on the situation regarding Saakashvili, who also holds Ukrainian citizenship. The Georgian foreign ministry described Kiev’s decision as an extreme case of strained relations, as well as interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state.

Four criminal cases were launched against Saakashvili in Georgia after he left the country in 2013. He was sentenced in absentia to three and six years in prison in two of the four cases. In October 2021, Saakashvili secretly arrived in Georgia but was arrested anyway. In May 2022, he was taken to the Vivamed private clinic in Tbilisi, where he has been staying ever since. The Georgian authorities believe that Saakashvili is feigning illness so that he will be released from detention.

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