Star Wars

With old alliances fracturing and new ones being forged, the global order is not just shifting—it is being rewritten in real time

An Inevitable Casualty

Apeksha Priyadarshini IS SENIOR COPY EDITOR, OUTLOOK. SHE WRITES ON CINEMA, ART, POLITICS, GENDER & SOCIAL JUSTICE

In the current tug of war between Russia and Ukraine, Georgia seems to be the one walking the tight rope. Its strategic geopolitical position between Asia and Europe and the borders it shares with both the battling countries makes Georgia an inevitable casualty of the Russia-Ukraine war- now in its fourth year.

At the beginning of the war, Georgia extended its diplomatic support to Ukraine. In early 2022, even before the Russian invasion began, the Georgian Parliament adopted a resolution in favour of Ukraine while the Russians escalated the military preparations at the border. When Russia's aggression began, the then Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili dedicated one million GEL to provide medical assistance to Ukraine. By April 2022, Georgia ranked at the top among 191 countries in terms of sending humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

However, Georgia refused to extend any military support to Ukraine. It also shied away from joining other world powers in imposing economic sanctions against Russia. Several pleas were made to Georgia to open a “second front” against Russia after their invasion of Ukraine and reclaim Abkhazia and South Ossetia—the separatist regions of Georgia which, backed by Russia, declared de facto independence from Georgia in the early 1990s. But Garibashvili made it amply clear that he will not “make any decision which in any form will damage national interests of Georgia.”