The Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Kobakhidze, stated this in an interview with TRT WORLD.

When asked about President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s remarks regarding Georgia at the UN General Assembly, the Prime Minister said that he did not wish to respond directly to him, since Zelenskyyis the leader of a country at war.

“I don’t want to respond to Mr. Zelenskyy, because he is the president of a country at war. However, I must say that the Ukrainian government, at the highest level, demanded that we join the war against Russia. For example, I can remind you of the statements made by the Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security Council, Zelenskyy’s chief advisor, and many others. They clearly and explicitly demanded that we join the war against Russia, and we refused. These are the facts,” said the Prime Minister.

When asked why Georgia refused to participate in the war against Russia, Kobakhidze explained that the government’s goal is to maintain peace — a demand coming from Georgian society — and that the government is accountable to the public.

“This was a clear call to open a second front in Georgia, and you can imagine that this would have completely destroyed the country. We are a small country with a population of less than four million. Over the last 35 years, we have faced multiple wars — four different wars. We want to preserve peace, and this is what our society demands. We are responsible to the Georgian people, who want peace to be maintained in our country,” said Kobakhidze.

The Prime Minister also stated that the war between Russia and Ukraine could have been avoided, but “the international community did very little to fully concentrate on preventing it.”

“President Trump says that this war would not have happened during his presidency, and I completely agree with him. Of course, it was possible to prevent this war, but the international community did very little to stay fully focused on it. And now, you see that a very good, friendly country — Ukraine — is destroyed. They are facing huge problems; there are so many casualties, and the infrastructure and economy are devastated. The U.S. administration says this is a proxy war. I wouldn’t say it’s the United States’ war, but it is indeed a proxy war between the Western community and Russia. So, I’m simply repeating the formulation of the new U.S. administration,” said the Prime Minister.