Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed a decree appointing a new ambassador to Georgia, nearly four years after the previous envoy was recalled.

According to the decree, Mykhailo Brodovych has been named Ukraine’s ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Georgia.

Ukrainian sources note that Brodovych has been working in Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry since 1996. He previously served as Ukraine’s consul in Istanbul, as general consul in Krakow, and from 2015 to 2022 was Ukraine’s ambassador to Slovenia.

Ukraine recalled its previous ambassador on March 1, 2022. Zelenskyy cited two reasons: Georgia’s refusal to send volunteers from Georgia to Ukraine via a special flight and Georgia’s decision not to impose its own sanctions against Russia.

Guram Macharashvili, executive secretary of the opposition People’s Power party, commented on the appointment:

“Nothing has changed on our part; Georgia’s position on war, peace, and partnership remains absolutely the same. Our ambassador was the very last to leave Kyiv—that man worked under the bombs. We remain in a format of partnership and friendship. We’ve been saying this all along.
Apparently, there was an expectation that Ukraine might open a second front in Georgia. When this did not happen, Kyiv now seems to be pursuing a reset in its policy.

First Vice-Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, Gia Volski, said he could not predict what instructions Ukraine’s newly appointed ambassador to Georgia had received from the Ukrainian president. However, he expressed hope that the new ambassador would focus his efforts on restoring Georgia-Ukraine relations “sooner or later.”

“It was a very difficult period when Zelenskyy appeared at rallies organised by radicals, called on people to confront the government, and recalled the ambassador because Georgia did not engage in the war. Relations with the Ukrainian administration remain a challenging legacy, created for their own reasons. Later, they admitted that no one had provided them with security guarantees and that they could not renounce joining NATO. They also claimed they engaged in a conflict when negotiations were impossible. Their actions caused various problems for Europe, the Caucasus, the region, and their own people, Ukrainian families. I hope the instructions given to the new ambassador will be aimed at restoring relations sooner or later,” he added.