Zelensky dismisses the Georgian ambassador and accuses Moscow

France Press agency , Posted on Monday, July 3, 2023 at 8:40 pm

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gave the Georgian ambassador 48 hours on Monday to return to Tbilisi and hold consultations there on the fate of former Ukrainian President Mikhail Saakashvili, accusing Moscow of killing him.

The remarks follow the emergence of Mr. Saakashvili, 55, an angry former pet of the Kremlin who, advocates say, was a poisoning victim who was extremely thin and emaciated during his trial in Tbilisi.

“Today I asked the Foreign Ministry to summon the Georgian ambassador, notify him of our protest and ask him to leave Ukraine within 48 hours for consultations in his capital,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram.

“Today the world can once again see how the Kremlin – at the hands of the current Georgian government – kills Ukrainian citizen Mikheil Saakashvili,” Zelensky added.

The pro-Western ex-president of Georgia (2004-2013), an angry pet of the Russian authorities who in 2008 launched an armed invasion of this former Soviet republic with NATO aspirations, has been arrested on his return from exile in 2021. She The main opposition figure to the current government, which opponents say is under pressure from Russia.

“I once again call on the Georgian authorities to transfer Ukrainian citizen Mikheil Saakashvili to Ukraine to receive the necessary treatment and care,” Volodymyr Zelensky added.

“And I call on our (Western) partners to consider this situation and not ignore it, to save this man. No government in Europe has the right to execute people, life is a basic European value.”

Several Georgian TV channels aired pictures of Mikheil Saakashvili on Monday appearing extremely emaciated during a court hearing, adding to concerns about his health.

During this hearing, Mr. Saakashvili appeared with a gaunt face. The 55-year-old former leader lifted his shirt and showed off his torso with exposed ribs and a hollowed-out stomach, according to photos released.

His doctors say Saakashvili, a man who weighed 115 kilograms before his arrest, lost about 60 kilograms in prison and suffers from heavy metal poisoning, anorexia and cachexia.