Saakashvili suggests he would support Zelensky if he were in Ukraine now

Mikheil Saakashvili, former President of Georgia and Ukrainian politician, has said that if he were in Ukraine now, he would help President Volodymyr Zelenskyy win this war.

Source: Saakashvili in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda, which will be published on 30 December

Details: Ukrainska Pravda has asked him: "If you had not left Ukraine for Georgia and found the invasion in February 2022 in Kyiv, what would you have done? How do you see your participation in this war under different circumstances?"

Quote from Saakashvili: "Firstly, I would be next to President Zelenskyy, whom I consider to be the greatest statesman since Churchill. Compared to him, Reagan and Thatcher are smoking nervously on the sidelines. At the same time, I would travel around the world, using my numerous contacts to mobilise support for Ukraine.

Secondly, I would constantly go to the combat zone and help both Ukrainian and Georgian soldiers. Recently, Georgian soldiers recorded a collective address, wishing me a happy birthday, although I never for a moment forget that already 35 of them have been killed in the war, including seven on the Bakhmut front. And many of my Ukrainian friends were killed or wounded.

Volodymyr Chavryhy, one of the most decent and honest people I know, and my assistant, was killed near Kherson. Mykhailo Baturin, my only personal bodyguard and just a friend, was seriously wounded near Bakhmut. This is the price that Ukraine and all of us pay.

I feel 100% Ukrainian, and I have never been so proud of it."

Background:

• Mikheil Saakashvili, former President of Georgia (2004-2013), was sentenced in absentia to six years in prison in 2018 on charges of abuse of office. He was imprisoned in October 2021, a few days after his secret return from Ukraine, where he received citizenship.
• Amnesty International, an international organisation focused on human rights, said that the persecution of Saakashvili was "obvious political revenge".
• David Smith, an American doctor, has recently provided an expert opinion that heavy metals and other substances, including mercury and arsenic, as well as diseases and addictions associated with improper treatment, were found in samples of Saakashvili's hair and nails.

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