Kiev meddling in internal affairs by sending Georgian ambassador to Tbilisi for consultations - Georgian Foreign Ministry

TBILISI. July 4 (Interfax) - Georgia's Foreign Ministry released a statement on Tuesday expressing deep concern over Ukraine's decision to send the Georgian ambassador to Tbilisi for consultations.

A day earlier, Ukraine's President Vladimir Zelensky demanded that Georgian authorities send the former president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, to Kiev for medical treatment. He instructed his Foreign Ministry to have a robust conversation with the ambassador regarding the matter and to send him to his home country for consultations.

This step by Kiev is "aimed against a friendly state and people," the Georgian statement said.

"The decision of the Ukrainian authorities substantially harms the strategic relations between the two countries and constitutes direct intervention in the internal affairs of a sovereign state. Further exacerbation of our bilateral relations will drive the situation into deadlock," said the statement, which also expresses the hope that Kiev would reconsider its decision.

Georgian Ambassador Georgi Zakarashvili set out Tbilisi's official stance at the meeting at Ukraine's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday, the document said.

Zelensky recalled his ambassador from Tbilisi in March last year, citing Georgia's refusal to impose direct sanctions on Russia.