Azernews.Az

By Mushvig Mehdiyev

Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili plans to pay an official visit to Ukraine next year.

He announced about preliminary preparations for the visit saying: "Several ministers will visit Ukraine prior to my visit. I'm planning to leave for Ukraine in January-February 2015."

Garibashvili also criticized the activity of the members of the former ruling United National Movement party in Ukraine.

"We are ready to send various groups and delegations to Ukraine to help the government to carry out reforms and actively participate in the implementation of those reforms. What belongs to the country is the country's exclusive and does not belong to none of the former high-ranking officials," he noted.

Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has actively supported the Maidan riots in the Ukraine's capital Kiev. Saakashvili was recently offered a vice-premier post in Ukraine, but he rejected it to maintain his Georgian citizenship.

Following the defeat in the elections to parliament, Saakashvili left Georgia in November 2013 when incumbent President Giorgi Margvelashvili took the oath of office. Georgian Attorney General's Office of announced him wanted within the country's territory, accusing him of the embezzlement of state funds for personal needs, as well as the misuse of official authority on the case of dispersing the rally on November 7, 2007 and beating parliamentarian Valeri Gelashvili.

Georgia and Ukraine have suffered similar fates, as both countries faced strong pressure by Russia amid their integration into Europe. Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in March, 2014, while Georgia's breakaway Abkhazia region signed a partnership accord with Russia in November. Georgian authorities said Abkhazia's approximation to Russia was annexation of the separatist region and violated the South Caucasus country's territorial integrity.

Western forces, particularly the European Union and NATO, firmly support Georgia and Ukraine, and all western players have denounced the so-called agreement between Russia and Abkhazia. NATO promised to accept both countries as member-states as soon as they fulfill the alliance's requirements.