Ambassador talks downgrading Georgia-Ukraine diplomatic relations

Georgian ambassador to Kyiv Giorgi Zakarashvili has said that the decision on his departure from the Ukrainian capital indicates a downgrading of diplomatic relations between the countries.

Earlier it was reported that Zakarashvili was returning to Georgia, Caliber.Az quoted Georgian media as saying.

"This means a downgrading of diplomatic relations. This is followed by the severance of diplomatic relations. The main task for me was to leave the territory of Ukraine within this period, which we have agreed with the Ukrainian side," the ambassador said on the air of Imedi TV company.

Zakarashvili left Kyiv on July 6.

He was forced to leave Kyiv by the decision of the Ukrainian president.

Former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili looked emaciated on July 3 when participating via video link in a Tbilisi City Court hearing involving a case about the dispersal of a rally in 2007. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later instructed the country’s Foreign Ministry to summon Georgian Ambassador to Kyiv Giorgi Zakarashvili and tell him to leave the country in 48 hours for consultations on the situation regarding Saakashvili, who also holds Ukrainian citizenship.