Wasn't Us: Kiev Denies Role in Delaying Saakashvili's Train Bound for Ukraine

The National Police of Ukraine has no connection to the delay of the Przemysl-Kiev train carrying former Odessa Region Governor and Georgia's ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili, Ukraine's Interior Ministry said Sunday.

KIEV (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, Saakashvili, stripped of the Ukrainian citizenship in July, boarded a train heading from Poland to Ukraine. However, he was asked to get off the train while still in Poland.

"The National Police of Ukraine is in no way connected to the running of the Intercity train heading from Przemysl to Kiev," the ministry wrote on Facebook.

According to the statement, the Ukrainian police have no jurisdiction over foreign territory.

Saakashvili has struggled to return to Ukraine since July when President Petro Poroshenko revoked his citizenship on the pretext of violating the country's laws. The ex-Odessa governor who was in the United States at the time promised to file an appeal to the decision of the Ukrainian leader in court.

In August, Saakashvili said he would get back to Ukraine by car through the Krakowiec crossing point on the Poland-Ukraine border.

Saakashvili was appointed Odessa Region's governor in May 2015 and granted Ukrainian passport, but he lost his Georgian citizenship upon receiving the Ukrainian one. Saakashvili resigned in November 2016, accusing Ukrainian officials of lack of interest in the fight against corruption.