Georgia's ruling party head sees Zelensky's call for returning Saakashvili to Ukraine as insulting to Georgia, doesn't want relations with Kiev to be ruined

TBILISI. July 4 (Interfax) - Irakli Kobakhidze, chairman of Georgia's ruling party Georgian Dream, has rejected Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky's demand that former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, who is currently a citizen of Ukraine, be sent to Kiev for medical treatment.

"This position is insulting to us," Kobakhidze said at a briefing on Tuesday.

High-ranking Ukrainian officials played a role in "sending Saakashvili to Georgia," which he also described as insulting to Georgia, he said.

"Today, when the same [Ukrainian] leadership is demanding that Saakashvili be returned to Ukraine, this certainly manifests signs of an insult," Kobakhidze said.

At the same time, Kobakhidze added, "it is our desire to remain at least in a state of unilateral friendship with the Ukrainian leadership."

Zelensky demanded on Monday that the Georgian government immediately send Saakashvili from Tbilisi to Kiev for treatment. Zelensky also instructed the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry to speak to the Georgian ambassador and tell him to leave for Georgia for consultations within 48 hours.

Saakashvili secretly arrived in Georgia on September 29, 2021, and was detained in Tbilisi on October 1. He ended up in jail shortly afterwards. He was then transferred to the Vivamedi civilian clinic in Tbilisi on May 12, 2022, where he is currently staying. Several criminal cases have been opened against Saakashvili in Georgia. He has called his detention unlawful and says the charges brought against him have been falsified.