TBILISI, July 7. /TASS/. The government of Georgia signaled its readiness to accommodate a new Ukrainian ambassador back in 2022, Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili has told the Imedi television.

"I think that if the authorities of Ukraine are interested in the [health] condition of Mr. [Mikheil] Saakashvili, [if] they have concerns about his health, they should complete the ongoing procedures instead of sending our own ambassador back for consultations," he said. "They contacted us on the issue of appointing their new ambassador, and we signaled our consent immediately. They are the ones to make the decision, the [Ukrainian] ambassador needs to come to this country."

Darchiashvili explained that the process of appointing Ukraine’s new ambassador to Georgia had begun "a few months ago, last year." In his words, any Ukrainian diplomat accredited in Georgia has the authority to visit Saakashvili, a former Georgian president who is jailed in Georgia.

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.

In early March 2022, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky recalled from Tbilisi the Ukrainian ambassador, Igor Dolgov, "over the immoral position" of the Georgian government regarding sanctions and their raising hurdles for volunteers going to Ukraine. Afterward, Ukraine has repeatedly accused Georgia of helping Russia with circumventing the restrictions that had been imposed on the country.