Saakashvili publishes open letter to Poroshenko
Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili published an open letter to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on his Facebook page.
“Our relations were friendly to begin with. But today they have reached a state where we are on different sides of the barricade,” Saakashvili observed.
He mentioned that last week he sent Poroshenko a personal note, in which he suggested that they begin talks “about the future fate of Ukraine and preventing the destabilization of the situation in the country”. “You and I both see perfectly clearly that the political crisis has brought Ukraine to the verge of extremely serious dramatic developments, which I would sincerely like to avoid,” Saakashvili said.
The former Georgian president lamented the fact that instead of “looking for a way to resolve the conflict together”, Poroshenko did not respond to his letter, and published his personal note. In Saakashvili’s opinion, the Ukrainian leader has demonstrated that he has “no honor”.
Saakashvili also urged Poroshenko to resign voluntarily. The former Georgian president called this the last chance “to overcome the political crisis”. “A president who has voluntarily resigned, bowing his head to the will of the people, can count on an alleviation of punishment and a pardon,” Saakashvili said.
On Saturday December 16, the Insider portal wrote with reference to its own sources that Saakashvili had sent Poroshenko a letter asking for reconciliation. The news outlet’s source said that Saakashvili’s request was also transmitted orally to the Ukrainian President, through the ambassador of an EU state. “Through an EU ambassador he is offering to stop the marches and take down the tents in exchange for de-escalation,” the source said.
On Sunday December 17 in an interview for the TV channel ZIK, Saakashvili confirmed that he had sent Poroshenko a letter. According to him, he did it when he was released from detention. “I did what victors do, what people who are confident of their correctness do, I wrote him a letter, I told him: You wrongfully accused me,” the former Georgian president explained. He called his letter to Poroshenko a “grateful gesture”.
Svyatoslav Tseholko, press secretary to the Ukrainian president, published a photograph of Saakashvili’s personal letter to Poroshenko on Facebook, in which he admits to having tolerated “many political mistakes”. In the letter, Saakashvili assures “esteemed Petro Oleksiyovych” that he has “no aggressive intentions”. “Of course, I have tolerated and still tolerate many political mistakes, but now I am as convinced as ever that we need to de-escalate and not to allow the situation to be destabilized,” the former Georgian leader wrote. In addition, he said that he is prepared to meet with Poroshenko personally.
Saakashvili founded the Movement of New Forces party in Ukraine, which organizes rallies and protests calling for Petro Poroshenko’s resignation from his position as president. During such a protest in Kyiv on Sunday December 17, protesters took the lobby of the October Palace, where the activists planned to make their headquarters. However, law enforcement officers did not permit them to go any further in the building. Saakashvili urged his supporters to back down. The Ukrainian Police subsequently initiated two criminal cases, one for the capture of a state building, and the other for violence towards officials.