Main topic for Georgian-Ukrainian presidents
By Tea Mariamidze
Wednesday, July 19
“We are the nations that have held the flag of freedom and independence for centuries proudly. We are the nations that are ready to fight for freedom,” Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili stated at the meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, Petro Poroshenko, on Tuesday.
The Ukrainian President and his delegation arrived in Georgia late on July 17 at the invitation of Margvelashvili.
“I feel at home in Georgia. The atmosphere here is friendly. Our countries are striving for freedom and democracy as we are both victims of Russia’s violence,” Poroshenko stated at his face-to-face meeting with the Georgian President.
The main topics of the meeting were Russian aggression and occupation, as well as European direction of both countries.
“We have problems with our territorial integrity, for Georgia it is occupied Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and for Ukraine, the Crimea and eastern Ukraine,” Poroshenko stressed, adding that Georgia and Ukraine are “strategic partners and do not have a single problem in our mutual relationship”.
The Georgian President thanked Poroshenko for arriving in Tbilisi and noted that the visit coincides with the 25th anniversary of the restoration diplomatic ties between the two countries.
“You in Georgia endured such massive pressure; you have two breakaway occupied regions, but simultaneously the country is oriented towards cooperation and friendship,” Margvelashvili addressed Poroshenko.
The Georgian President expressed readiness to continue supporting Ukraine on the international arena and highlighted the need and importance of the joint actions of Georgia and Ukraine in the UN, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and GUAM formats.
After the meeting, the Presidents signed a document on the Georgia-Ukraine Strategic Partnership which, according to Margvelashvili, reflects the real mood and attitude between the nations he and Poroshenko are serving.
Furthermore, President Poroshenko, together with Margvelashvili, will visit the occupation line in the Khurvaleti village in Shida Kartli. On the same day, he will also visit Svaneti and Adjara.
