The Georgian Parliament's Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday adopted a statement in support of Ukraine amid a conflict escalation in Donbas, Nikoloz Samkharadze, the committee chairman, said
TBILISI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th April, 2021) The Georgian Parliament's Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday adopted a statement in support of Ukraine amid a conflict escalation in Donbas, Nikoloz Samkharadze, the committee chairman, said.
The breakaway eastern region of Ukraine has been witnessing a deteriorating situation over the past few days. The Ukrainian and Western leaders, in the meantime, voiced their concerns over reports about Russian military movements near the border with Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier that Russia was taking measures to ensure the security of its borders amid the increased NATO activity, which puts Moscow on alert. He said that Russia does not threaten anyone and moves its troops on its territory as it thinks fit.
"Georgia and Ukraine are bound by special relations, friendship and strategic partnership, and therefore we once again reaffirm Georgia's firm support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine," Samkharadze said in a statement read out at the briefing.
According to the lawmaker, the document also says that Georgia welcomes the deepening of relations between NATO and Ukraine and supports the alliance's increased presence in the Black Sea region.
"We believe that the ongoing events pose a serious threat not only to Ukraine but also to the Black Sea region as a whole and to the European security architecture. We call on the international community to continue to resolutely support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine against aggression," Samkharadze added.
The conflict in Donbas began in 2014 when Kiev launched an offensive against the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk after they proclaimed independence. Their decision came in response to what they considered a coup in the Ukrainian capital that toppled the old government in February of that year.
The conflict has since been mediated by the so-called Normandy Format, including Russia, Ukraine, France, and Germany. In February 2015, Normandy leaders held talks in Minsk that resulted in an agreement to stop the fighting and seek a long-term political resolution to the conflict. During a Normandy summit in Paris in late 2019, all sides agreed that the Minsk agreements remained the basis of the Donbas conflict resolution.
