Georgia's Ambassador Who Left Ukraine Calls His Departure Decline in Diplomatic Relations

TBILISI (Sputnik) - Ukraine's recommendation to the Georgian Ambassador in Kiev, Giorgi Zakarashvili, to return to Tbilisi for consultations indicates a decline in diplomatic relations between the countries, Zakarashvili said Thursday.

"This [recommendation] indicates a decline in the level 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 the given time frame, agreed upon with the Ukrainian side," Zakarashvili said in a televised appearance on Georgian broadcaster Imedi.

On Monday, former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili took part in a meeting of the Tbilisi City Court in the case of the dispersal of the demonstration in 2007. He demonstrated his thin body and called on the Georgian authorities to apologize to him for bringing him to such a state.

On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he had instructed the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry to summon the Georgian ambassador and express a decisive protest over the situation with Saakashvili, offering the diplomat 48 hours to leave the country for consultations with Tbilisi.

The Georgian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday called the Ukrainian authorities' advice "an extreme form of aggravation of diplomatic relation," adding that "[officially] Kiev is taking this step against a friendly state and people."

Zakarashvili left Kiev earlier on Thursday.