“I recently spoke over the phone to my Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba. We remain in constant communication with our Ukrainian partners,” Georgian Foreign Minister, David Zalkaliani, said in an interview with GPB First Channel.

“During my visit to Brussels over the past week, we discussed with our NATO partners and NATO Secretary General the situation around Ukraine and the difficult state of affairs in the region as a whole, in the face of Russia’s aggressive rhetoric and actions. It is only natural that we remain in close coordination and communication with our Ukrainian partners.

Ukraine’s representative attended our meetings with NATO ambassadors during my visit. We discussed together and coordinated our further activities and outlined the steps the West needs to take to avoid further escalation of the tension and prevent the situation from getting out of control, including the developments leading to invasion of the Ukrainian territories.

These were the main topics of discussion with my Ukrainian colleague today. I reaffirmed to him our government’s support and solidarity with our Ukrainian brothers in this difficult time. We are facing the same challenges created by the occupation of our territories and we must stand together in dealing with the shared challenges. Our actions need to be and are indeed closely coordinated with our strategic partners,” Zalkaliani told GPB First Channel.

As to the question about what Georgia, Ukraine and western partners need to do to prevent the aggravated situation in the Black Sea region from spiralling out of control, the Minister replied that “there needs to be a clear demonstration of unity to Russia and so there is.”

“Based on my visits to Europe over the past week, I have ample grounds for saying that our western partners are united in their position and their position is fully in line with that of ours. This is manifest in the dialogue ongoing between the U.S. and the Russian Federation on the one hand, and between the NATO partners and the Russian Federation, on the other, which sends a very clear message to Russia that any talk of legal guarantees is unacceptable since there is the Bucharest Summit Decision on Georgia’s and Ukraine’s NATO membership. They were very clear in their message to Russia that this decision will not be revised.

The position of our partners from NATO and the United States is also clear: every country, whatever its size, has the sovereign right to choose the security alliance it wants to join. And we find it ironic that Russia itself calls into question its own international obligation.

Today, as never before, it is important that the international community remains united and consistent in their position, and they do so. During my visits to Brussels and the Baltic States, they were adamant in their private conversations with me that this position will not be revised and there can be no talk of any new sphere of influence. Spheres of influence are part of the history; they belong to the past,” Zalkaliani noted.