Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov congratulated Vladimir Putin on his birthday and stated that the Russian president's name holds "special significance" for the Chechen people. According to Kadyrov, the region will "never forget" the support Putin extended to his father—Chechnya’s first president, Akhmat-Khadzhi Kadyrov—"at a time when the future of the Chechen Republic depended on the decisions being made."
Speaker of the Georgian Parliament Shalva Papuashvili criticized the statement by European Union Foreign Minister Kaja Kallas that the European Union supports the Georgian people, but not the country's government.
The politician views such statements as a "verbal abolition of Georgia's sovereignty." He believes this is tantamount to interference in the country's internal affairs. Papuashvili compared Kallas's statements to the actions of the Red Army in 1921, when Georgia was occupied, pointing to an attempt to "do with words" what had previously been done by force.
He emphasized that the right to choose their government belongs exclusively to the Georgian people and called Brussels' position out of touch with reality. He also noted that Western politicians had created an unrealistic perception in Georgia and Ukraine about joining NATO.
The day before, Kaja Kallas stated that the current Georgian government policy is not aligned with the European Union. Therefore, Georgia's EU candidacy will not be pursued.