Georgia's Defence Ministry Explains Why They Refuse to Hand over Buk and Javelin to Ukraine

Georgia has repeatedly voiced its position on handing over weapons to Ukraine, such as Buk missile systems and Javelin anti-tank systems.

The Ministry of Defence of Georgia, in response to the temporary charge d'affaires of Ukraine Andrii Kasianov has denied information "spread by experts or individual mass media," saying that Ukraine handed over the Buk missile system to Georgia free of charge.

"The Ministry of Defence received the mentioned Buk system in 2007 under a multimillion-dollar purchase. This was done under a secret agreement, so we are deprived of the opportunity to clarify the details," the Ministry stated.

"We make it publicly clear that tens of millions of dollars were also paid by the Ministry of Defence in 2017 for Javelin anti-tank systems in the United States," the statement added.

The Ministry points out that Georgia "continues to provide humanitarian and political aid to Ukraine, based on its available capabilities." The tons of humanitarian goods, including generators, were purchased and transferred to Ukraine at the initiative of the Prime Minister.

"As for weapons or dual-use equipment for Ukraine, the Georgian government has repeatedly voiced a clear position on this issue," the Georgian Ministry added.

The government of Georgia does not hand over weapons to Ukraine, as it claims that it does not want to be a participant in the war.

Andrii Kasianov, in his article for EuroPravda, said that Kyiv asked to hand over the Buk missile systems, which Ukraine sent to Georgia during the 2008 war. Ukraine's request also included the Javelin anti-tank systems transferred to Georgia by the United States. But, according to Kasianov, the Georgian government refused to provide assistance.

He assured that despite the refusal, Ukraine does not want to use this issue in internal politics and rejects any accusations of attempts to draw Georgia into the war with Russia.

The ruling party of Georgia, "Georgian Dream," also stated that the anti-aircraft missile systems were not handed over for free.