Zelenskyy explains how Ukraine will respond to Georgia's trial over Ukrainian citizen Mikheil Saakashvili
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed outrage at the state of the former president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili [now Ukrainian citizen – ed.] who is currently imprisoned in Georgia. Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine will summon the Georgian Ambassador to Ukraine and ask him to leave Ukraine.
Source: Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Twitter
Details: Zelenskyy wrote that "Russia is killing Ukrainian citizen Mykhailo Saakashvili at the hands of the Georgian authorities" and stressed that Kyiv has repeatedly called on the Georgian government to allow Saakashvili to come back to Ukraine, and that Ukraine’s partners have offered other options.
Right now, Russia is killing Ukrainian citizen Mykhailo Saakashvili at the hands of the Georgian authorities.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) July 3, 2023
We have repeatedly called on the official Tbilisi to stop this abuse and agree on Saakashvili's return to Ukraine. Our partners, in coordination with Ukraine, have also… pic.twitter.com/Gzvl4zJPR1
Quote: "Today, I have instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to summon the Georgian Ambassador to Ukraine, to express our strong protest and to ask him to leave Ukraine within 48 hours to hold consultations with his capital.
Once again, I call on the Georgian authorities to hand over Ukrainian citizen Mykhailo Saakashvili to Ukraine for the necessary treatment and care. And I urge our partners to address this situation and not ignore it and save this man. No government in Europe has the right to execute people, life is a basic European value."
Details: In summoning the Georgian Ambassador, Kyiv has chosen an unconventional practice as far as international relations go. Normally, the government of a state can recall its own ambassador to another state for consultations, but cannot recall another state’s ambassador.
Instead, Kyiv could expel the ambassador of another state as a demarche, for example, by declaring them persona non grata or revoking their accreditation. However, Zelenskyy decided not to use this harsh step and instead proposed a procedure that has no official name or rules.
Previously: On 3 July, former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, currently imprisoned, participated in a court hearing for the first time since February, appearing emaciated.
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