The President of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili, said that Georgia can “in solidarity” help Ukraine in the war against Russia, as the country lacks the necessary funds due to Russian aggression. At the same time, she conveyed to Ukraine that “it is in the interests of the whole of Europe to ask Russia to leave all occupied territories,” it reports Ukrainian Pravda.

“Solidarity. We have had our wars, as I have already said, three times we had Russian aggression, and we have no means. We have Russian tanks 30 km from Tbilisi.

So there are restrictions – it’s something that the authorities sometimes use for other reasons. But it is true that we have these limitations.

Therefore, there is no military option for us and there is no second front that can help Ukraine. Ukraine has a depth of territory, it has its own military resources and a completely different potential.

I consider Georgia as a country very important for Ukraine, because it is a people that has been through it, understands it and fully supports the real situation that Ukraine is going through,” said President Salome Zurabishvili in an interview with “Ukrainian Pravda”. .

Address of Salome Zurabishvili to Ukraine

The President of Georgia also stated that her country does not believe in returning the territories occupied by Russia (Abkhazia and South Ossetia) by military means.

At the same time, according to her, during the negotiations, when Ukraine decides that it wants to sit down at the negotiating table, “it is in the interests of all of Europe to ask Russia to leave all the occupied territories.”

This applies to Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Salome Zurabishvili against the Georgian government and Putin’s surprise after the protests in Georgia

She also criticized the Georgian government’s decision to resume air traffic between Tbilisi and Moscow. According to her, such decisions do not correspond to “the Georgian vision of the future, the Georgian vision of who are our partners.”

The founder of the national airline Georgian Airways banned the country’s president from using his services in May after he said he would boycott the airline over the resumption of flights to Russia, Russian news agency TASS reported.

Russia has announced that it is lifting a four-year ban on direct flights with Georgia and lifting a decades-old visa requirement for Georgians traveling to Russia.

The pro-Western president of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili, who previously clashed with the government over reestablishing ties with Moscow, expressed her opposition.

“Despite the opposition of the Georgian people, an unwanted Russian plane landed in Tbilisi. We say “No” to flights to Russia!” Zurabishvili wrote on Twitter.

For months, the Georgian opposition has denounced what it sees as a pro-Russian turn by the government, which has also worried the European Union, which Tbilisi is seeking to join.

On May 19, Georgian police dispersed protesters who had gathered at the Tbilisi airport to meet an Azimuth Airlines flight from Moscow.

Vladimir Putin said he was “completely surprised” by anti-Kremlin demonstrations in Georgia as Russia restored air links with the pro-Western country.

“To be honest, I was completely surprised by such a reaction,” the Russian president said at a meeting with businessmen.

“I thought everyone would say, ‘Well, thanks, that’s good.’ But no, there was an absolutely incomprehensible uproar about this,” continued Vladimir Putin in front of the cameras.

In 2008, Russia fought a short but bloody war against Georgia, and anti-Russian sentiment runs deep in the country.

In response to anti-Moscow protests in Tbilisi, Russia banned air travel with Georgia in 2019.

But Putin unexpectedly canceled this ban and gave the green light to the introduction of a 90-day visa-free regime for Georgian citizens coming to Russia.