Inappropriate - this is how Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili described my invitation to visit Bucha and Irpin, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Ruslan Stefanchuk, wrote on his Facebook page and addressed the Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia with a paraphrase of one of aphorisms of Georgian poet Shota Rustaveli.

"Dear colleague, Ukraine appreciates any assistance it receives from other countries during this difficult time. We demand tougher sanctions, military, political and financial support every day. There are countries that help us in all areas. And there are countries that help us only in individual issues.

We know that Georgians have always been sincere and brave warriors, many of whom stand by our defenders today and protect Ukraine from Russian invasion, just like many Ukrainians did in 2008. They stood with Georgians against Russia, which violated your independence, occupied part of your territory, killed your people," he added.

Stefanchuk said that from the very first days of the confrontation with Russia, Ukraine had supported Georgia: politically, informationally, internationally and militarily.

"I just want to remind you that thanks to the Ukrainian air defence systems, you have protected your skies," he wrote.

According to him, "Support must always be sincere. Our peoples and history always assess us, politicians," Stefanchuk said.

"The only thing that makes me speechless is a question: Is it right to call the invitation to come to a friendly country and see its misery, share its grief, express words of support “inappropriate”? It seems to me that a friend should do it even without an invitation," the Rada Chairman said.

Speaker Shalva Papuashvili responded to the invitation in a Facebook post on April 8. In his statement, Papuashvili said that the support that Georgia has been showing for Ukraine on international platforms doesn't deserve the attempts by high ranking Ukrainian officials to differentiate the Georgian Government and people, the demand for the opening of a second front in Georgia, unfounded diplomatic demarches, baseless accusations of smuggling or making use of the ordeal that Ukrainians are going through. According to Papuashvili, in light of these issues being unclarified, the invitation seemed inappropriate.

source: IPN