Saakashvili: Georgians will face hunger if relations between Kyiv and Tbilisi deteriorate
Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said that the Georgian people face famine if relations between Kyiv and Tbilisi deteriorate because of his appointment to the post of Head of the National Reform Council of Ukraine.
According to Saakashvili, Tbilisi needs Kyiv more than Kyiv needs Tbilisi. He also noted that most of what people buy in Georgian shops, "for example, cereals, buckwheat, meat products, sausage, milk, is imported from Ukraine."
"If Georgia disappears for Ukraine, it will not affect people in Ukraine. If Ukraine disappears for Georgia, it will mean empty shelves in shops, mass hunger, troubles. Therefore, of course, this is out of the question, and Ukraine will not do it," the politician said, as cited by the Georgian publication Sova.
He added that Moscow was also against his appointment in Kyiv.
"For Russia it was a very fundamental issue. But what the Russian lowlives say doesn't matter. For Russia, this was a clear demonstration that Ukraine is an independent country and its president represents the full dignity of the president of an independent state. I don't want to be a bone of contention. But it is necessary to demonstrate and remind Russia and the international community about it," Saakashvili said.
This is the second time that Saakashvili gets position in the Ukrainian government. Five years ago, he was appointed head of the Odessa region, but a year and a half later he resigned and went into opposition to President Petro Poroshenko. His tumultuous political activities, during which he once had to run on the roof to escape detention, ended with him being deported from Ukraine and stripped of citizenship in 2017.
In May 2019, President Vladimir Zelensky gave Saakashvili his Ukrainian citizenship back, and the next day Saakashvili returned to Ukraine.