David Zalkaliani, Foreign Minister of Georgia, has cast doubt upon the authorship of the tweet posted in the name of the PM of Ukraine Denis Shmyhal on Monday that appeared to challenge his Georgian counterpart over a stance on flights to Ukraine amid Russia’s aggression against the country.
On Monday, Zalkaliani told the sources in an interview that he assumed the tweet, which expressed hope the Georgian’s PM Irakli Garibashvili would give permission for a flight taking “brave Georgian brothers to Ukraine“, had been posted on Twitter without “direct involvement” of Shmyhal.
Furthermore, the foreign affairs minister said he was making the assumption “as the text appearing in Georgian gives rise to many doubts to me, and I tend to understand where it may be coming from” without elaborating further.
The tweet in question was posted through the Twitter account of the Ukrainian officer in English, Ukrainian and Georgian. It was posted with a follow-up tweet that said, “Freedom-loving Georgian individuals, help your Prime Minister make the right decision!”.
Shmyhal tweeted from his official Twitter account, “Brave Georgian brothers are waiting at the airport to fly to 🇺🇦. I hope @GharibashviliGe will show his courage and give permission to fly.” #Ukraine is waiting! #Europe is waiting!
#StopRussia
Brave Georgian brothers are waiting at the airport to fly to 🇺🇦. I hope @GharibashviliGe will show his courage and give permission to fly. #Ukraine is waiting! #Europe is waiting!#StopRussia
— Denys Shmyhal (@Denys_Shmyhal) February 28, 2022
Moreover, Zalkaliani also said that Georgian PM Garibashvili had a “very close, friendly, partnerly, brotherly relationship” with Shmyhal, adding the “supportive attitude” expressed from the head of the Georgian administration to his colleague in partnership was “unwavering and truly solid.”
The foreign relations minister also told in the interview that he understood the seriousness of the situation in Ukraine and the charged atmosphere created by the conflict in the country but reaffirmed Georgia’s stance in supporting the partner state defending itself from the ongoing Russian aggression against Ukraine.
