Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze has accused Vladimir Zelensky of not serving the interests of his country, according to local media. He was responding to the Ukrainian leader placing sanctions on him and 18 other Georgians on Thursday.
Tbilisi has been gripped by protests since late October, when the pro-Western opposition refused to recognize the results of a parliamentary election in which the ruling Georgian Dream party achieved a convincing victory. Zelensky has accused the country of “surrendering” to Russia.
“He [Zelensky] does not belong to himself, does not belong to his family, and what is most difficult, does not belong to Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. He serves the interests of another country,” Kaladze told reporters, according to local media.
The sanctions include the freezing of financial assets, bans on entry into Ukraine, doing business there, and purchasing property. Unlike other sanctioned officials, Kaladze has a close connection to the country: before joining AC Milan, the football star had played for Kiev’s club Dynamo and reportedly has two apartments in the city.
After his career in sports, Kaladze transitioned into politics and has been serving as the mayor of Tbilisi since November 2017. He is also the General Secretary of the Georgian Dream party.
“I am sure that the Ukrainian people will very soon understand and analyze everything, what processes and with whose support the tragedy that is happening today, unfortunately, in Ukraine, took place,” Kaladze said, according to Georgian media. He added that his answer to Zelensky’s move would be to continue to support families fleeing the conflict.
Earlier this week, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said a Maidan-style coup, similar to the one that deposed democratically-elected Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich in 2014, had “failed” in Georgia.
The ongoing protests turned violent last week after the government announced that it would suspend accession talks with the EU, citing “constant blackmail and manipulation” of Georgian domestic politics by Brussels. There have also been multiple instances of rioters clashing with police in Tbilisi, resulting in several hundred people being detained.