Georgia recalls Ukraine Ambassador after ex-President Saakashvili gets new appointment

Georgia has recalled its ambassador to Ukraine on May 8, just a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appointed former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili to a government post, Kyiv Post reports.

Mikheil Saakashvili, the former president of Georgia, was appointed on Thursday to a senior role at an advisory body on reforms chaired by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Reuters reports.

According to a decree published by Zelenskiy’s office, Saakashvili will head an executive committee at the National Reform Council.

“Several bottles of excellent Georgian wine from my village broke through the lockdown and reached me today. In principle, today there is something to celebrate,” Saakashvili wrote on his Facebook page.

The former Georgian president had been sounded out for the post of deputy prime minister in April, but that move petered out after he held talks with lawmakers in Zelenskiy’s party who would have needed to confirm his appointment.

Saakashvili also served for a brief but turbulent spell under Zelenskiy’s predecessor, Petro Poroshenko, and became an outspoken critic of Poroshenko’s government.