The US has imposed sanctions on Georgia’s former prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, accusing him of undermining the country’s democratic future to benefit Russia.

Mr Ivanishvili, the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, was sanctioned by the State Department on Friday.

The billionaire oligarch served as Georgia’s prime minister for a year between 2012 and 2013, and has been accused of dragging the country away from the European Union and towards the influence of Russia.

While he now holds no official post other than “honorary chairman” of the party, Mr Ivanishvili is widely believed to still exert significant control in Georgian politics and is seen as the country’s de facto ruler.

Georgian Dream, a pro-Russian populist party that still rules the country, is now facing mass protests over its attempt to pull Georgia from its pro-Western path.