“Positive and Welcome” – Georgian Prime Minister on Putin’s Decision

“Under the visa-free regime, in accordance with the decision of the Russian Federation, our citizens will no longer need visas to travel to Russia. We have said many times, and it is a fact, that we have one million ethnic Georgians based in Russia, who have family members and relatives here, so of course, it is very important to facilitate their and their family member’s travel back and forth.

I want to tell everyone that this, of course, from the humanitarian standpoint, was a very positive and welcome decision. Every decision that makes life, travel, and work easier for our citizens is certainly positive and welcome,” Garibashvili told reporters.

As for the resumption of direct air travel between Russia and Georgia, according to the Prime Minister, flights will be conducted only by non-sanctioned airlines and aircraft.

“Multiple influential countries have direct air travel... namely: China - a superpower; Turkey – our neighboring friend, a huge state with a large economy, a member of NATO, and a country that already has the status of a candidate for the European Union; Emirates; Israel, which is America’s number one strategic partner and a role model for me in many ways because they always follow an unwavering national policy in relation to all states; and in our immediate vicinity – Azerbaijan and Armenia.

We are seeing that companies are starting to express their willingness to initiate and operate flights. Our position is crystal clear - of course, no flights will be carried out using sanctioned aircraft, only non-sanctioned airlines and planes. I don't think there is any problem with that.

When I was in Azerbaijan, our friend, President Aliyev told me, while discussing the economy, that 130 flights are conducted per week, in Israel - more than 100, etc. I want to reassure our friends, real friends in Europe and elsewhere – these are economic and trade relations. We have said from the beginning, since the start of the war in Ukraine, this tragedy, that we will not impose economic sanctions on Russia, because this will compromise our citizens’ well-being and hurt our own business.

Thanks to our government trade relations with Russia have been restored. The previous government wanted to achieve this and did everything for it; ex-President Saakashvili met with Russian tourists personally. Before this decision became known, we have heard many similar statements, but no action was taken. Naturally, we had a discussion within the team, we analyzed it and said: non-sanctioned aircraft flights are, to put it very simply, a component of trade and economic relations, one minor component, not the main one. Our trade with Russia amounts to one billion dollars, at most. What about Europe?! European Union trades with Russia in four days what our country trades throughout the entire year. The European Union, which did not approve of authorizing these flights, was responsible for 270 billion dollars, almost 300, of trade profit to Russia last year, in the heat of the war.

A unilateral visa regime with Georgia, in effect since 2000, is being canceled under the orders of Vladimir Putin. Starting from May 15, Georgian citizens will be able to enter Russian territory through border checkpoints visa-free for up to 90 days, every 180 days on diplomatic, work-related, private, official, touristic, and humanitarian grounds, as well as short-term studies. Furthermore, direct flights between Georgia and Russia, having been suspended since 2019, will be renewed. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation already retracted the recommendation to their citizens to refrain from traveling to Georgia.

President Salome Zurabishvili has a different opinion from Irakli Garibashvili. She stated, that as long as Russia continues to be a global pariah and an occupier of Georgian territory, such a gesture is untimely and inappropriate. Zurabishvili evaluated Putin’s decision as another provocation, which poses a great challenge to the Georgian Government.