Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has sanctioned top Georgian officials in a bid to halt the country’s apparent drift into Russia’s orbit.

Zelenskyy announced the sanctions on Thursday December 5, 2024, after a seventh consecutive night of protests against Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze’s decision to delay talks on joining the European Union, a move thought to have been steered by Bidzina Ivanishvili, the country’s wealthiest man who founded the governing party Georgian Dream.

Among those sanctioned are Kobakhidze and billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, who is widely considered the real power behind the party. Ivanishvili made his fortune in Russia.

The sanctions target both figures and 17 other government members, including Georgia’s State Security Service Chief and Interior Minister.

Speaking in a video posted on Telegram, Zelenskyy said, “I have just signed a decree that gives effect to the National Security and Defense Council’s decision on sanctions.”

“These sanctions target the part of the Georgian government that is surrendering Georgia to Putin. This is the very issue that is fueling the protests in Georgia right now.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia in 2022, will impose 10-year restrictions on financial operations on entry to Ukraine and on property rights in Ukraine.

Georgia has been rocked by turmoil since Georgian Dream won disputed parliamentary elections on October 26, 2024 with opposition figures claiming that the results of what was seen as a de facto referendum on EU accession had been rigged under Russian influence.

Since 2022, Georgian Dream has advanced Russian-style legislation targeting civil society and independent media outlets, as well as curbing LGBTQ rights.

Kobakhidze’s subsequent announcement last Thursday that Georgia would not hold EU membership talks until 2028 caused uproar, with thousands of protesters facing off against riot police on the streets of Tbilisi over the past week in demonstrations that saw about 300 people arrested – including opposition leaders.

Georgian officials have repeatedly accused opposition protesters of plotting a revolution along the lines of Ukraine’s 2013 Maidan protests, which ousted a pro-Russian president.

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken denounced the Georgian government’s “brutal and unjustified violence” against opposition protesters and warned of possible sanctions against those “who undermine democratic processes or institutions in Georgia.”

Zelenskyy Urges Partners To Sanction Georgia

Zelenskyy called on Ukraine’s European partners and the United States to join him in supporting Georgia’s pro-EU movement.

“This is how it works in international affairs: if you do not respond in time or fail to respond with principle, then decades are lost, and countries are robbed of their freedom.

“We must not lose anyone in this region; neither Georgia, nor Moldova, nor Ukraine. We must stand united in defending ourselves against Moscow.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy

His announcement of sanctions came after Georgia’s President Salome Zurabichvili, who is seeking to annul the election results, appealed to Western countries to back what she called a “national movement” in support of EU membership.

Opposition leaders have vowed to continue their protests.

Zourabichvili said she would not leave office when her term expires later this month. The President said that she would not take instruction from the new parliament formed after the disputed October elections, which she said is illegitimate.

The opposition wants the Georgian Dream government to step down. Leaders hope the protest movement can snowball into a general strike.

Zourabichvili on Thursday thanked Zelenskyy for the sanctions. “I could not say it better,” the President wrote in a post to X. She added “Russia is trying to get back the control over the Black Sea.”

Georgian opposition leaders have long called on the West to be more assertive in supporting their EU and NATO membership ambitions — and in curtailing Russian influence in the country.