Parliament speaker, Davit Usupashvili, expressed hope that the Ukrainian people will be able “to realize their free choice”, and Georgian Foreign Minister, Maia Panjikidze, said Tbilisi is watching developments in Ukraine with “concern.”

Speaking with journalists on the sideline of a parliamentary assembly of GUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova) in Tbilisi on December 2, Usupashvili said: “We wish the Ukrainian people to realize their free choice and to continue moving together [with Georgia] towards the democratic, civilized world. I hope developments taking place now in Ukraine will end peacefully in accordance to the interests of the Ukrainian people. We are watching closely these developments; on the one hand it is [Ukraine’s] internal affair, but when it comes to democracy, human rights, of course we stand beside those people on whose side is constitution and democratic values in general.”

It would be “very short-sighted” to think that Georgia can somehow benefit if things go wrong in Ukraine, Usupashvili said. “It is impossible something to be good for Georgia if it is not good for the Ukrainian people,” he added.

• Statements on Ukraine, Eastern Partnership Debated in Parliament

Speaking with journalists at the same event in Tbilisi, Foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze expressed hope that developments in Ukraine “will end peacefully and both sides will try to resolve the problem without resorting to force.”

“We are watching these developments with concern as injuries were reported [as a result of clashes]... There have already been excesses and use of force, but there is still time for the both sides to try to resolve the situation peacefully before it gets worse,” she said. “We call on both the demonstrators and the government to find a consensus through a dialogue without resorting to force.”

She also said that “nothing can influence on Georgia’s European choice.”

A small group of people gathered on Sunday outside the former parliament building in Tbilisi center in solidarity to pro-Europe protests in Ukraine.