Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili today phoned her Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy, discussing recent developments surrounding Ukraine, security in the Black Sea, and Euro-Atlantic integration. The Press Office of the Georgian President reported that the two leaders agreed to use the forthcoming visit of President Zurabishvili to Ukraine to work on these issues.
According to the same report, President Zurabishvili, concerned over developments on the Russian-Ukrainian border and situation in Crimea, condemned the military escalation and expressed solitary with Ukraine. The Georgian President stressed the need for Ukraine to withstand provocations from Moscow, adding it is crucial that both Tbilisi and Kyiv move toward Euro-Atlantic integration as “the only direction of our common security.”
Both Presidents reportedly highlighted the importance of security in the Black Sea, and “the need to present common goals of Georgia and Ukraine at high-level NATO and EU meetings in this direction.”
The Ukrainian President’s Press Office reported that the sides “emphasized the importance of dialogue and solidarity and discussed practical steps by Ukraine and Georgia in the context of further deepening relations with NATO.”
“Indeed, the time has come for concrete proposals for Ukraine and Georgia to obtain a NATO MAP and a plan to join the European Union,” the Press Office quoted President Zelenskyy as saying.
The Ukrainian President reportedly informed President Zurabishvili about the Crimean Platform initiative, an inaugural summit set to take place in Kyiv in August, expressing hope for the Georgian President’s “personal participation in this important event and the active involvement of Georgian partners in the content of the initiative.”
Noteworthy that on April 9, President Zurabishvili called for urgently returning the Georgian Ambassador to Kyiv in a display of solidarity. The Georgian Foreign Ministry recalled Ambassador Teimuraz Sharashenidze to Tbilisi in May 2020, citing President Zelenskyy’s decision to appoint former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili as the head of the Executive Reform Committee of Ukraine.
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