DISINFO: Zelenskyy called on Georgia to start a war against Abkhazia and South Ossetia
SUMMARY
Speaking at the summit of the Joint Expeditionary Forces in Sweden, Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Georgia to begin the process of restoring territorial integrity, that is, invading South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
RESPONSE
A deliberate distortion from pro-Kremlin outlets of the Ukrainian President’s speech at the summit of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF).
During his address at the summit, Volodymyr Zelenskyy also spoke about Georgia and said that thanks to Ukraine’s defence against Russian aggression, new prospects for the restoration of territorial integrity will open up for Georgia.
“New security perspectives will also emerge due to changes in the South Caucasus region neighbouring the Black Sea. This will add potential to our joint security here, in our part of Europe. Especially when, thanks to our defence from Russian aggression, new prospects will open for Georgia – to restore its territorial integrity,” Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy did not call on Georgia to start a war to return the occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions. Rather he noted that the security of the region depends on Ukraine’s success in countering Russian aggression. Read the full debunk at Myth Detector.
Since the launch of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, pro-Kremlin media actively deployed a disinformation narrative falsely claiming that the US, the EU, or even Ukraine are dragging Georgia into the war with Russia in order to open a ‘second front’ against Moscow and to ease the situation for Kyiv on the Ukrainian front.
Read similar disinformation cases claiming that Zelenskyy called for increasing Ukraine's security through a war in Georgia, that Zelenskyy is trying to provoke a war in the Caucasus, that External forces like the US and Ukraine are ready to destabilise situation in Georgia, that Kyiv aims to organise a coup in Georgia to drag it into the war with Russia, that The West aims at bringing an anti-Russian government to power in Georgia, that The West wants to initiate Euromaidan in Georgia as revenge for not joining sanctions on Russia, that The West wants to draw Russia into a conflict with Georgia, or that The US intends to use Georgia to inflame conflicts near Russia.