Tbilisi is talking about a "reset" with Kyiv, after years of mutual recriminations
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced that he and Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed the possibility of "resetting" relations between Tbilisi and Kyiv, which have noticeably deteriorated since the outbreak of full-scale war in Ukraine. The conversation between the two politicians took place on May 4 in Yerevan on the sidelines of the European Political Community summit.
According to the Georgian government administration, the meeting was initiated by the Ukrainian side. The foreign ministers of both countries, Maka Bochorishvili and Andriy Sybiga, also participated in the talks.
According to Kobakhidze, a further warming of relations will depend not on statements, but on concrete actions.
"We had a conversation with the Ukrainian president, including about the importance of resetting relations. The rest depends on practical steps. There were specific actions that worsened relations between the authorities: the recall of the ambassador, the de facto expulsion of our ambassador, and the issue of sanctions. "The ambassador was recalled because we failed to impose sanctions and send volunteers to Ukraine with the government's official consent. Following this, there were calls from high-ranking Ukrainian officials for a second front. These were very difficult steps for our relations. If there is interest, we are ready to reset relations between the governments," the head of the Georgian government stated.
Relations between Tbilisi and Kyiv deteriorated sharply in the first months of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Ukrainian authorities then recalled the ambassador from Georgia after Tbilisi refused to join sanctions against Russia and allow the sending of volunteers to Ukraine with official state support.
Georgian authorities, in turn, have repeatedly accused certain members of the Ukrainian leadership of attempting to drag the country into a war with Russia and open a "second front" in the Caucasus. Despite this, Kobakhidze maintains that the political conflict has not affected relations between Georgians and Ukrainians.
