The transportation of sanctioned cargo will begin from Sokhumi—I am deeply convinced that a prior agreement was made with the Georgian government," said conflict expert and former Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality, Paata Zakareishvili, on Palitra News' program Free Studio.

The former minister believes that the Georgian government's silence on the matter is driven by its interest in ensuring as much cargo as possible passes through Georgia.

According to Zakareishvili, Georgia, whose territories are occupied, should not be playing by Russia’s rules.

"Discussions about the restoration of Sukhumi Airport have been ongoing for a long time. Russia wanted to operate certain flights as early as the Sochi Olympics, but even then, they didn’t dare. Now, the airport has been renovated exclusively for domestic flights, meaning planes from Sukhumi can only fly to airports within Russia and vice versa. The only logical explanation here is that the transportation of sanctioned cargo will begin from Sukhumi. This is already happening today—cargo enters from Turkey, passes through Georgia, and reaches the Gali district, where there is a large terminal. The airport will serve as an additional means to transport cargo to the rest of Russia.

This is one of those cases where the Georgian government is benefiting—this cargo will pass through Georgian territory. That is why I am deeply convinced that there was a prior agreement with the Georgian authorities.

Today, statistical data was published showing that both exports and imports in Georgia have doubled or even tripled. Cargo is coming in and going out, so we must closely observe where this cargo is headed and how it is being transported. We will see that a significant amount is going to Abkhazia, and if it is not yet, it soon will be, as soon as Russia starts using this airport.

I believe the Georgian government’s silence on this matter is due to their interest in having as much cargo as possible move through Georgian territory. The Georgian government does not even hide the fact that it is not joining international sanctions against Russia.

Why is Georgia, a country with occupied territories, playing by the same rules that benefit Russia?" Zakareishvili stated.

He also spoke about Georgia's foreign policy, emphasizing that "Georgian Dream" is continuing its election campaign, and all of its messaging is aimed at deceiving its electorate.

The expert believes that "Georgian Dream" and its rhetoric are even more paranoid than Hitler was.

"Georgian Dream is continuing its election campaign because they need to win the local elections in October. All of their messaging is not meant for Europe but for their own voters—they are creating an image of an enemy, making it seem as if Europe has become our foe, that the 'Deep State' and the entire world are against us.

The term 'Global War Party' seems to have run its course, so now they are using an even vaguer and more ambiguous concept to deceive their electorate. Hopefully, more and more people, even among their supporters, will start to see through this. Because outside of Georgia, in Europe, their statements are seen as laughable. Even Hitler was not as paranoid as their rhetoric is today. Fortunately, they don’t have weapons and can’t start a world war—otherwise, they are completely lost in their own delusions," Zakareishvili said.