Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili accused Ukraine鈥檚 President Volodymyr Zelensky of meddling in his country鈥檚 political situation by commenting on protests there last week, prompting an angry response from Kyiv.
During the protests against a 鈥渇oreign agents鈥� law that critics said signaled an authoritarian shift in Georgia, Zelensky thanked protesters for waving Ukrainian flags, saying it showed respect, and he wished Georgians 鈥渄emocratic success.鈥�
Last Friday, Georgia鈥檚 parliament dropped the bill, which had threatened to harm Tbilisi鈥檚 bid for closer ties with Europe. Critics had said it was inspired by a 2012 Russian law that has been used widely to crack down on dissent in Russia.
鈥淲hen a person who is at war... responds to the destructive action of several thousand people here in Georgia, this is direct evidence that this person is involved, motivated to make something happen here too, to change,鈥� Garibashvili said in an interview with the Georgian IMEDI television broadcast on Sunday, referring to Zelensky.
鈥淚 want to wish everyone a timely end to this war, and peace,鈥� Garibashvili added.
However, Ukraine鈥檚 foreign ministry spokesperson Oleh Nikolenko accused Garibashvili of repeating 鈥淩ussian propaganda鈥� by suggesting that Kyiv sought to draw Georgia into its conflict with Moscow.
鈥淲e categorically reject such claims, which have nothing to do with reality. The Georgian authorities are looking for an enemy in the wrong place,鈥� Nikolenko said on Facebook on Monday.
鈥淯kraine has been and will remain a friend of the Georgian people, whom we do not wish to stop (in their task of) building a European future.鈥�
Despite Garibashvili鈥檚 comments, Georgian public opinion is strongly pro-Ukrainian and anti-Russian. Georgia fought its own brief war with Russia in 2008 over the status of two Moscow-backed breakaway regions, Azkhazia and South Ossetia.
Georgia and Ukraine both aspire to join the European Union one day.