Zelenskyy discusses European integration and Saakashvili with Georgian president

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, and his Georgian counterpart, Salome Zourabichvili, had a phone conversation on 8 November.

Source: Zelenskyy on social media, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Zelenskyy stated that the two leaders had congratulated each other on the European Commission’s positive assessment of the two countries’ efforts on their path towards the EU.

Quote: "I expressed my gratitude to Georgia for sending a representative to the recent Peace Formula meeting in Malta.

I also brought up the issue of Ukrainian citizen Mikheil Saakashvili's access to appropriate medical treatment." [Saakashvili is a former president of Georgia with a pro-Ukraine position – ed.]

According to information on the website of the Office of the President of Ukraine, this is the first time Zelenskyy and Zourabichvili have spoken on the phone.

During our call, President @Zourabichvili_S congratulated Ukrainians and I congratulated the friendly Georgian people on the European Commission's positive assessment of Ukraine's and Georgia's efforts on our path to the EU.

I expressed my gratitude to Georgia for sending a… pic.twitter.com/YdtzgHjdAg

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) November 8, 2023

Relations between Kyiv and Tbilisi are currently tense due to Georgia’s refusal to support Ukraine more actively in its resistance against Russia’s full-scale invasion and the detention of Ukrainian citizen and former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili.

Due to this, Ukraine has not yet appointed an ambassador in Georgia and has asked Georgia to withdraw its ambassador from Kyiv.

Background:

• The European Commission has recommended starting accession negotiations with Ukraine, but Kyiv must implement further reforms.
• The European Commission is also in favour of granting Georgia candidate status provided that Tbilisi takes a number of steps.

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