If Russia wins in Ukraine, Georgians can forget about returning territories

If Russia wins in Ukraine, Georgians can forget about the return of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions - said General Ben Hodges in an interview with the "Guest of the Day" program of the "Mtavari Channel".

According to Hodges, he does not understand why Georgia does not firmly stand by Ukraine, while Russia does not respect the country's sovereignty:

"I don't understand why Georgia does not stand 100% firmly on the side of Ukraine. We talked about the international order, which implies respect for sovereignty. Russia does not respect Georgia's sovereignty. It has occupied Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region, and if it wins in Ukraine, Georgians can forget about the territories return. So whether Ukraine wins or not is a very important issue for Georgia." - says Hodges.

According to him, the Georgian economy depends on the economy of other countries, including through the Black Sea, and it is important that these other countries felt a reliable partnership from Georgia.

"Russians kill innocent people every day when they bomb peaceful cities. How can Georgia not condemn this every day. Georgia is a Black Sea country that borders Russia and it has suffered a lot from Russia. How can the government of this country not remind the world about this every day. Everything else To put it another way, this is about being on the right side of history." says Hodges.

The American general also responded to the refusal to transfer the BUK systems to Ukraine and noted that probably the "Georgian Dream" government does not consider Russia a threat:

"Of course, the responsibility of the Georgian government is to protect its own people, but I think that this government probably does not consider Russia a threat, otherwise it would have a bigger military budget.
I think that the probability of Georgia getting involved in the Ukrainian conflict because its government will support Kyiv is almost zero. Russia has used almost all of its capabilities in Ukraine over the past eight and a half years and still has not been able to capture much of Ukraine. Imagine Russia's Black Sea Fleet virtually destroyed when Ukraine has no fleet at all. So I don't understand why the government of Georgia shackled itself to the Kremlin," says the general.
Ben Hodges calls the rhetoric of "Georgian Dream" and its supporters, as if the US is dragging Georgia into war, absurd:

"There is no evidence that the US is trying to involve Georgia in the war in Ukraine. This is absurd. The victory of Ukraine is in the interests of Georgia. Russia is now in such a difficult situation that it is withdrawing manpower from Abkhazia to transfer to Ukraine. Which second front are we talking about? What means should Russia fight the second one? at the front?" says General Hodges in an interview with "Guest of the Day". [Full version of "Guest of the Day" on the evening broadcast].