Ukraine’s Sybiha Says He Will Meet Georgian Counterpart in Moldova in ‘Nearest Future’
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said he will meet with his Georgian counterpart, apparently referring to Maka Botchorishvili, in Moldova “in the nearest future,” amid renewed high-level exchanges between Tbilisi and Kyiv, in what appears to be an effort to restore ties after years of strained relations between erstwhile close allies.
“We want to open a new page with our Georgian partners,” Sybiha said on May 11 upon arrival at the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels, responding to a Euroscop question about the recent Yerevan meeting between the two countries’ leaders. Describing the meeting as “historical,” he added, “It was a good exchange of views,” and expressed readiness to continue what he described as a “constructive dialogue.”
“In Moldova, in the nearest future, I will have a meeting with my counterpart from Georgia,” he added, without disclosing the exact date. “We want to settle properly [the] diplomatic track of our bilateral relations. Our people, our societies, deserve to have this. Yes, we have some sensitive issues in our bilateral agenda, but we are ready to move forward,” he added.
The planned meeting in Moldova follows a May 6 phone call between Sybiha and Georgian Dream Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili, with Tbilisi reporting that the conversation was initiated by Kyiv and focused on the “importance of dialogue,” while Sybiha said the sides agreed on a “mutual interest in normalising” relations.
Two days before the call, on May 4, Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a pull-aside meeting on the margins of the European Political Community summit in Yerevan, with Botchorishvili and Sybiha also in attendance. Tbilisi said the meeting, lasting for several minutes, was initiated by Kyiv, with Kobakhidze describing the conversation as “friendly” and “interesting,” while Zelenskyy commented on X that “it is important to have dialogue at all levels.”
Relations between Tbilisi and Kyiv have been strained in recent years. What began as unease in Tbilisi over Kyiv’s appointment of Georgian opposition figures, including former President Mikheil Saakashvili, to positions in the Ukrainian government has since widened into a broader rift, deepened by the Georgian Dream government’s controversial stance toward Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine appointed an ambassador to Georgia in January 2026, nearly four years after recalling its diplomat over Tbilisi’s stance following Russia’s full-scale invasion.
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