Russia canceled visas for citizens of Georgia and resumes flights
From May 15, the visa regime for Georgian citizens entering the Russian Federation and leaving the Russian Federation will be canceled. In addition, the President of the Russian Federation lifted the ban for Russian airlines on flights to this country.
Air traffic between Georgia and Russia ceased in July 2019 due to large-scale protests in Tbilisi that occurred after the incident with State Duma deputy Gavrilov. During the opening of the meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly in the Parliament of Georgia, he took the chair of the speaker.
Moscow and Tbilisi have not had direct diplomatic relations since the military conflict in 2008 and the separation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia from Georgia.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili considered the abolition of the visa regime by Russia and the resumption of air traffic unacceptable and called it a provocation. According to her, these actions cannot be taken while the Russian Federation commits aggression against Ukraine and controls the Georgian territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
