“The fact that Russian oil will once again be entering Britain means only one thing: it reveals just how hypocritical the British Government is, having demanded of Georgia that Russian petroleum products not be allowed into the country,” declared Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili.

According to him, some time ago it was none other than the British Ambassador who was personally making the rounds, including of Parliament, requesting meetings with various members of Parliament, sometimes over tea, sometimes in his office, sometimes in one manner or another, and speaking in a tone that was half-threatening, insisting that Russian petroleum products must not enter Georgia.

“When the Ambassador was asked by what means Georgia was supposed to achieve this, he would say that formal sanctions were not necessary, just apply pressure on business so that they don’t import them. Such is the outlook of the current British Ambassador. What he actually meant, of course, was that we should ultimately either impose sanctions on Russia ourselves or apply pressure on businesses. When he was told that if petroleum products stopped coming in, businesses would be forced to seek alternative markets, which would drive up the petrol price in Georgia, his response was: ‘What can you do, our own citizens have seen their cost of living rise too.’ Today, we learn that Britain itself has lifted the sanctions. Had we listened to the current British Ambassador, we would probably have severed all economic ties with Russia entirely; had we stopped importing the oil, they would likely have slapped an embargo on us. We would have plunged into economic collapse. This, regrettably, is how immoral international politics can be. The moral of the story is this: if we do not look after ourselves, neither the British Ambassador nor any other country’s representative will look after our interests,” Papuashvili declared.

Great Britain eased its sanctions on Russian oil following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.