Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi have met in Yerevan on the sidelines of the 8th summit of the European Political Community (EPC).
According to the Georgian Prime Minister’s press service, the meeting was initiated by the Ukrainian side and focused on ‘relations between the two countries’. In addition to Kobakhidze and Zelenskyi, the meeting was attended by the foreign ministers of Georgia and Ukraine, Maka Botchorishvili and Andrii Sybiha.
The press service also released a 20-second video of the meeting, showing Zelenskyi speaking with Kobakhidze and Botchorishvili, though the conversation is inaudible. The footage also captures moments of a group photo being taken and the participants saying their goodbyes.
The Ukrainian side did not release information about the meeting for the moment of publication.
Once close allies, Georgia’s relations with Ukraine have soured in recent years, especially since the beginning of the full-scale war in Ukraine in 2022, with Georgian Dream leaders, including Kobakhidze, routinely castigating the country and its officials.
In the context of war, the ruling party often refers to the ‘deep state’ and ‘global war party’ — two nebulous terms that regularly feature in Georgian Dream’s conspiracy theory-tinged rhetoric. According to the party, these shadowy forces have infiltrated political circles in the West, dragged Ukraine into war with Russia, and are trying to do the same in Georgia.
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One point of tension is Zelenskyi’s relationship with Georgia’s former president, Mikheil Saakashvili, who is currently imprisoned, and his United National Movement (UNM) party.
Saakashvili holds Ukrainian citizenship, which he obtained after 2013, following the end of his presidential term in Georgia. He then moved to Ukraine, where he held several state positions. Before he left Ukraine in 2021 for Georgia, where he currently remains in prison, he served as Chair of the Executive Reforms Committee, appointed by Zelenskyi.
Furthermore, Georgian security services have accused Georgian volunteer fighters in Ukraine of trying to orchestrate a coup back in Georgia along with the support of Ukrainian officials.
In September 2025, during the UN General Assembly, Zelenskyi said Russian influence has become increasingly strong in Georgia, noting that Europe ‘lost’ the country. Georgian Dream officials heavily criticised him in response, with the ruling party MP Irakli Kirtskhalia calling him a ‘puppet’ and saying he should ‘clean out his mouth’.
In December 2024, amid democratic backsliding in Georgia, Kyiv imposed sanctions on the founder of Georgian Dream, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, and 18 other individuals, stating that they were ‘selling out’ the interests of Georgia and its population.
