According to Leonid Kalashnikov, deputy of the Russian Duma, Russia and Georgia are on the verge of restoring direct air traffic and canceling visas.
“I talked to many of the highest-ranking officials… Very sensitive issues that we need to resolve – air traffic and the cancellation of visas in Russia. We are on the verge of making these decisions,” Kalashnikov said at the economic forum which was dedicated to the development of economic relations between Russia and Georgia.
Kalashnikov claimed that it is difficult for him to estimate when these decisions will be made and in what order.
Based on the decree of the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, Russian airlines were prohibited from flying to Georgia from July 8, 2019. On this date, the decision of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation to suspend the flights of Georgian airlines to Russia came into force. The Russian authorities took this step after several thousand people organized an anti-Russia rally in Tbilisi on June 20, 2019, at the parliament building.
“The foreign policy department of Russia noted that the ban on Russian airlines to carry out air transportation is temporary, and the main conditions for its cancellation being the stabilization of the situation in Georgia, the cessation of the Russophobic campaign and the disappearance of threats to the safety of citizens of the Russian Federation. On December 26, 2022, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Mikhail Galuzin stated in an interview with TASS that Russia does not exclude the cancellation of the visa regime for citizens of Georgia, if the conditions are met,” reports TASS.
