Tbilisi has no intention of discussing Saakashvili's release with Kiev - ruling party's leader

TBILISI. July 5 (Interfax) - Any consultations with the Ukrainian administration on the release of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili from custody and his treatment in Kiev are ruled out, head of the ruling Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia party Irakli Kobakhidze said at a press briefing on Wednesday.

"Although the Ukrainian leadership's decision to send the Georgian ambassador home for consultations regarding Saakashvili is an insult to us, we will not give a tit-for-tat response, including through comments. We will continue our unilateral friendship with the Ukrainian leadership, as we need to honor centuries-old Georgian-Ukrainian relations and to take the current situation in Ukraine into account," Kobakhidze said.

He noted the reaction of the radical Georgian opposition to the demarche of the Ukrainian leadership, and did not rule out that the opposition might push certain Ukrainian officials into objecting to EU candidate status for Georgia.

"Our radical opposition members are not Georgians, they are foreign agents, so they might make amoral calls for Ukraine to block giving candidate status to Georgia," Kobakhidze said. He added that Georgia had met every recommendation of the European Commission, so the possible denial of candidate status would be politically motivated.