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.
Later, Kobakhidze told journalists that it was ‘an interesting and very friendly conversation’, though he said he could not disclose its substance, noting that ‘it was a closed-door meeting, a meeting held in a closed format’.
‘However, in general I can say that it was a friendly and interesting exchange between us. The initiative came from the president himself, and we immediately confirmed our readiness and discussed bilateral relations’, he added, noting that ‘Ukraine is a friendly country for us; we share a traditional, historical friendship that connects our states and our peoples’.
‘We must take the utmost care to preserve this, and that was among the sentiments I shared with the president’, Kobakhidze said.
Zelenskyi also shared information about the meeting on social media, placing clearer emphasis on challenges in relations between the two countries.
‘There are indeed unresolved issues between our states’, he said, noting that ‘it is important to have dialogue at all levels’.
Met with Prime Minister of Georgia @PM_Kobakhidze. There are indeed unresolved issues between our states. It is important to have dialogue at all levels.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 4, 2026
Ukraine has always respected and continues to respect Georgia, its sovereignty, and its people.
We will continue our… pic.twitter.com/DGlGDX7lTn
‘Ukraine has always respected and continues to respect Georgia, its sovereignty, and its people. We will continue our cooperation going forward’, Zelenskyi added.
Sybiha, in his turn, reported on his meeting with Botchorishvili, noting that he held a ‘pull-aside meeting’ with the Georgian counterpart.
On the margins of the EPC summit in Yerevan, I held a pull-aside meeting with my Georgian counterpart, Foreign Minister @MakaB__.
— Andrii Sybiha 🇺🇦 (@andrii_sybiha) May 4, 2026
We exchanged views on a range of bilateral, regional, and international developments. We also discussed European integration and the EU’s important… pic.twitter.com/iXc8Fbyk2Y
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.
