A series of rallies took place in Tbilisi against the resumption of air communication with Russia and the abolition of visas between the countries. The day before, the head of the opposition United National Movement party, Khabeishvili, called on people to come out to the building of the country's Foreign Ministry. “Putin has actually declared Georgia a Russian province... This is the pinnacle of cynicism when, in parallel with this, the Georgian people are oppressed every day, the occupation continues, the Russian army is in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. We choose Europe, not Russia!” Khabeishvili noted.

Another opposition party, Lelo, demanded that the authorities submit a draft law on the introduction of a visa regime for citizens of the Russian Federation for discussion in parliament. In addition to visas, the draft law proposes to introduce a rule obliging citizens of the Russian Federation to confirm in writing their agreement with the principle of Georgia's territorial integrity when entering the country. It was also noted that it is necessary to refuse entry to citizens whose things or vehicles have a graphic image of the Latin letters Z and V as symbols of the war with Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the US has threatened to impose sanctions against Georgia if direct air links with Russia are resumed. “If flights between Russia and Georgia resume, this will raise our concern about the possible imposition of sanctions on Georgian airlines that will serve aircraft under import and export control,” the State Department said in a statement.

On May 10, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree lifting the ban for Russian airlines on direct flights to Georgia, as well as introducing a visa-free regime for Georgian citizens from May 15. Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili called this decision a provocation and called for a national security council to be convened to introduce a visa regime for Russians.