“We see that they are facing a major crisis. These processes were inevitable. The situation has not calmed down. Macron’s statement also means that they have no other choice. They are looking for ways out of this situation—how the war in Ukraine should end,” Mikheil Kavelashvili told journalists, commenting on a statement by French President Emmanuel Macron, in which he said that Europe would have to engage in direct dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

According to Kavelashvili, the policy of peace was not merely a wish but a long-term vision and an understanding of the challenges that could arise.

“As for Macron and the Euro-bureaucracy, we see that they are facing a major crisis. These processes were inevitable. The situation has not calmed down. Macron’s statement also means that they have no other option. They are looking for ways out of this situation—how the war in Ukraine should end, and so on—so that it does not escalate further and spread to other European cities. There are many different views from various leaders, and speculation also plays a major role. Therefore, the path we have chosen is not just one of observation; we know what we want. The policy of peace was not just a single desire—it is a long-term vision and an understanding of what challenges could arise. We saw this process coming. The process that is ongoing today and the position Georgia holds is one that many countries would like to be in. That is why we are being praised, and Serbia wants to have good relations with us,” Kavelashvili said.

Kavelashvili also responded to a journalist’s question about why foreign actors have changed their rhetoric regarding Ukraine.

He described the statements and actions of foreign partners as a double standard, saying that one thing is what they say publicly, and another is “what they demand behind closed doors.”

“These statements are not surprising to us—I mean the Georgian authorities and those who trusted and supported the Georgian government after the challenges we faced. We have said that this is a double standard: behind the scenes, they act differently. In our case as well, we were forced to disclose behind-the-scenes information and tell our society the truth about what was being demanded of us. Similar demands were made with regard to Ukraine as well.

You remember the first stage, when everything was close to peace negotiations, and about a year later it was Arahamia who revealed the confidential conversation—that Johnson had gone to Ukraine and categorically demanded that they not agree to this peace agreement under any circumstances. That is how we later learned all this. The same approach is being applied now.

It is one thing what they say publicly and another what they do and demand behind the scenes. It is also noteworthy that the new U.S. administration brought all this to the surface and began speaking about it directly,” Kavelashvili said.