Moscow believes that Saakashvili's appointment will cause harm
If the fugitive ex-President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili becomes Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for reforms, then this position will be symbolic.
This opinion was expressed in a commentary to Kommersant by Sergei Markedonov, a leading researcher at the Center for Euro-Atlantic Security at the Institute of International Studies at MGIMO.
The publication recalled that Moscow considers Saakashvili a criminal for the events of 2008, when the Georgian army attacked South Ossetia and Russian peacekeepers.
“In diplomacy, what in the West is called perception often plays a role. Rationally, everyone understands that the post of Deputy Prime Minister, without specifics and a budget, is a rather symbolic position. But taking into account 2008, his symbolic role will be more harmful than beneficial,” the expert is sure.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky invited Saakashvili to take the post of Deputy Prime Minister. Now this decision must be passed through parliament.
At the same time, the former deputy prosecutor general demanded that Zelensky comply with Ukrainian law and extradite Saakashvili to Georgia, where he has been convicted.
Moscow believes that Saakashvili's appointment will be harmful