The British Ambassador was summoned to the Georgian Foreign Ministry

ArmInfo. The Ambassador of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to Georgia, Gareth Ward, spent several hours explaining to Georgian Foreign Minister Maka Bochorishvili the UK's decision to impose sanctions on two Georgian pro-government television channels, Imedi and PostTV, Imedinews reports. The British ambassador left the ministry building without comment. The previous day, Georgian Foreign Minister Maka Bochorishvili told reporters that the British ambassador had been summoned to the Ministry "to clarify" the basis for the decision to impose sanctions on the Georgian television channels. According to her, "we are talking about freedom of speech and freedom of speech standards, as well as the media," and therefore, "when it comes to sanctions, a very strong legal basis is required."

On February 24, the anniversary of the start of the Independent Military Operation in Ukraine, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office announced sanctions against two Georgian television channels "for spreading knowingly false information" about Russia's actions in Ukraine and "supporting Russia's efforts to destabilize Ukraine, threatening its independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity." The sanctions include asset freezes, a ban on providing financial asset management services, and the disqualification of directors.

Commenting on London's decision, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said the Georgian government "will do everything to protect independent media in Georgia." The country's National (Central) Bank warned all commercial banks, the largest of which (TBC and Bank of Georgia) are partially under British jurisdiction, that they are obligated to comply with Georgian law and not sanctions "imposed by a foreign state."