Saakashvili Reveals How Ivanishvili 'Dumped' Putin

The third President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, believes that billionaire, founder of the ruling "Georgian Dream" party, Bidzina Ivanishvili, has decided to "teach the Russians a lesson after Europe," as reported by "Novosti-Georgia." According to him, this is evidenced by Tbilisi's participation in the establishment of a commission to consider Ukraine's war damage compensation claims.

Saakashvili thinks this move is a consequence of Moscow presenting demands to Georgia that the current authorities cannot fulfill given the existing level of public support. "The fact that they signed 'cords' under the guise of supporting Ukraine is undoubtedly a positive fact. However, I disagree with those who explain this change solely by the fear of international chemical investigations. The situation is much deeper and, believe it or not, aimed at provoking Russia.

One must listen to the messages coming from Moscow, where both Lavrov and Zakharova just stated that they see no grounds for restoring relations with Georgia. The reality is that Putin believes Ivanishvili has 'dumped' him, and he may not be wrong. The thing is, Ivanishvili did everything possible to curry favor with Russia; he refused the EU, kept me in prolonged captivity, apologized to the Ossetians, accused Tsulukiani of bringing Georgia into the war, and closed the route for Azerbaijani cargo. What benefit does this bring?

Even from such an isolated and weakened Georgia, Russia is demanding fulfillment of what it believes to be Ivanishvili's promised recognition of Abkhazia and 'South Ossetia,' and as a first step in that direction, the signing of an official agreement with them. It demands a return to the CIS and entry into a Customs Union, it demands neutrality to be declared immediately, and the establishment of a Russian anti-terrorist center in Georgia. There are two more demands that I won’t mention here for specific reasons.

Thus, even the dictator has decided that after Europe, he must now teach the Russians a lesson. Yet, it seems to me that Russia, which is not at all interested in the argument that Ivanishvili simply cannot go far given the current sentiment in Georgian society, will end up catching him very seriously. Unfortunately, all this will pose a significant danger to every citizen of Georgia," wrote Saakashvili on his Facebook page.