During the protests against a “foreign agents” law that critics said signalled an authoritarian shift in Georgia, Zelensky thanked protesters for waving the Ukrainian flag, saying it showed respect and wished the country a “democratic success”.

The Georgian parliament on Friday dropped the bill, which opponents said was inspired by a 2012 Russian law that has been used extensively to crack down on dissent for the past decade and which had threatened to harm Georgia’s bid for closer ties with Europe.

“When a person who is at war … responds to the destructive action of several thousand people here in Georgia, this is direct evidence that this person is involved, motivated to make something happen here too, to change,” Garibashvili said in an interview with the Georgian IMEDI television, according to Reuters’ translation of the transcript.

Referring to the war in Ukraine, Garibashvili said, “I want to wish everyone a timely end to this war, and peace.”