Putin urges Georgians to ‘preserve the good traditions of friendship’ ahead of Victory Day

Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged the Georgian people ‘to preserve the good traditions of friendship and mutual assistance’ in a message commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany.

While Putin sent similar congratulatory messages to a number of  leaders — including of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Israel — for both Georgia and Moldova, he instead directed his message towards the people of those countries.

‘In his addresses to the peoples of Georgia and Moldova, Vladimir Putin called for preserving the good traditions of friendship and mutual assistance bequeathed to us, and not allowing our common historical heritage to be consigned to oblivion and discord to be sown between friendly nations’, a Kremlin statement said, as cited by Russian state news agency TASS.

The Kremlin stated that in Putin’s congratulatory messages, he also ‘conveyed heartfelt congratulations and words of sincere gratitude to veterans of the Great Patriotic War and home front workers, wishing them good health, prosperity and long life’.

While a number of heads of state are attending the Victory Day parade in Moscow, including Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, there will be no official Georgian representation as there are no official diplomatic relations between Georgia and Russia. Separately, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev cancelled his attendance last-minute.

Nonetheless, 9 May is still a state holiday in Georgia, but one that is complicated to commemorate without it being seen as a demonstration of pro-Russian sympathies.

On Friday morning, Georgian Dream leaders and World War II veterans gathered in Tbilisi’s Park of Culture and Leisure of Veterans to commemorate Victory Day.

For ease of reading, we choose not to use qualifiers such as ‘de facto’, ‘unrecognised’, or ‘partially recognised’ when discussing institutions or political positions within Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and South Ossetia. This does not imply a position on their status.

In last-minute cancellation, Aliyev will not attend Moscow Victory Day celebration

The news of the cancellation was announced by Kremlin official Yuri Ushakov.

OC MediaNate Ostiller