Zelenskyy urges Europe to sanction pro-Russian Georgian oligarch and de facto leader Ivanishvili
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has praised the US sanctions against Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgia's shadowy oligarch and honorary president of the ruling Georgian Dream party, and called on European states to follow suit.
Source: Zelenskyy on X (Twitter), as reported by European Pravda
Details: In a post duplicated in English, Georgian and Ukrainian, Zelenskyy called the sanctions against Ivanishvili "a strong step in support of the Georgian people and our entire region".
"Ivanishvili is the de facto ruler in Tbilisi today and is doing everything to hand Georgia over to Putin’s control. The loss of any country in our region, the destruction of democracy for one nation, and the spread of criminal Russian influence pose a threat to the entire region and all its peoples," Zelenskyy said.
He pointed out that Ukraine had already imposed sanctions on Ivanishvili and his circle.
"We call on all European partners and all global partners who value normal life and the freedom of nations to impose similar sanctions against Ivanishvili, so he understands the price of destroying his country’s independence and humiliating the Georgian people," he added.
Background:
- Bidzina Ivanishvili first left politics in 2021, but opponents of the government said that he continued to rule the country from behind the scenes and that not only all ministers but also state institutions were subordinate to him.
- In 2024, Ivanishvili became the honorary president of the Georgian Dream party.
- Earlier on Friday, it became known that the United States imposed sanctions on Bidzina Ivanishvili amid a democratic backslide and dispersals of anti-government protests in Georgia.
- The Baltic states also imposed sanctions against Ivanishvili earlier.
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