“Today and in General, Russia Has an Advantage in the War Against Ukraine” – Kobakhidze

Journalists asked Kobakhidze to clarify what he meant when he said on the air of the Public Broadcaster on February 8 that against the backdrop of Russia's superiority in Ukraine, the interest to get Georgia involved in the war is growing.

“This is a factual situation, which is confirmed by the representatives of the Ukrainian government, as well as by relevant foreign representatives from Europe and the USA. For example, if we take a look at last one or two weeks, no settlements were taken over by the Ukrainians, and at least ten settlements were taken over by the Russian side during the last week, which shows that the Russian side has the advantage at this stage. This is the fact…

That is important - who has an advantage today. In general, before the start of the war, Russia had occupied Crimea and a certain part of Donbass. Today, Russia occupies 80% of Kherson, as well as part of Kharkiv and 80% of Zaporozhye. In general, Russia has an advantage. This is today's situation.

That's why we say that under these conditions, of course, the interest of some forces to drag Georgia in  military conflict. There may actually be some objective interest behind this, but we certainly cannot do it at the cost of destroying our country,” said Kobakhidze.

To the question of who is interested in involving Georgia in the war, the chairman of Georgian Dream answered:

“Let's call it the global war party. We know who is behind this, what does this mean, but we will not give name to it until the end. That is why we say “global war party” - not to antagonize specific states. There is a specific interest in opening a second front in order to make the situation worse for Russia on the first front. We have 25 thousand well-trained soldiers, we have about a hundred tanks, two fighter planes, etc. Of course, there are certain resources to make the situation worse for Russia, but this will ultimately happen at the cost of destroying Georgia. We have an interest in not destroying the country and we will follow this interest to the end,” said Kobakhidze.

President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili says that messages of the ruling party contradict the statements of the leaders from all partner countries.  

“The certain caution expressed so far by the government of the occupied territories is heard and understood by everyone, although caution never excluded, especially for us and in our country, neither dignity nor solidarity.

Today's situation is completely different. New messages that have been delivered for two days from the ruling party contradict the statements of our partner countries leaders. Our defeatism [accepting defeat without a fight - ed.] is in unison only with the Russian narrative, echoes only Russian propaganda. I can neither explain, nor understand, nor share this," Zourabichvili says.

USA also responded to Kobakhidze. As former US Assistant Secretary of State David Kramer said in an interview with Voice of America, statement of GD chairman sounds as if Kobakhidze is cheering for Russia's victory.

“I think it's embarrassing. I said from the beginning and it is very clear that no one, absolutely no one is trying to drag Georgia in the war between Russia and Ukraine. No one at all. He should be ashamed of himself and stop making these ridiculous statements,” Kramer said.

“It is strange for a politician in a Russian-occupied country to make statements about Moscow's attack on Bakhmut and talk about a “global war party”, which pleases the Kremlin. What is the purpose?” says John Herbst, a senior director of the Atlantic Council.