TBILISI, Georgia – President Vladimir V. Putin on Wednesday ordered the restoration of direct flights from Russia to the former Soviet mountainous republic of Georgia starting May 15 and abolished visa requirements for citizens of Georgia, in the latest sign of the resumption of cooperative relations between the two countries.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said in statement that the decisions announced Wednesday were made in line with a “principled approach aimed at gradually improving communication and communication conditions between citizens of Russia and Georgia.”
Putin’s decisions highlight the highly complicated relationship between Russia and Georgia, where many members of civil society, pro-Western opposition activists and lawmakers see the Kremlin as a threat. key to the stability and security of the country. However, the country’s ruling party implicitly favors closer ties with Moscow.
In 2008, Georgia struggled a painful five-day war With Russia led to the Moscow military taking control of two breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, about one-fifth of Georgia’s territory. Since then, Russia and Georgia have no formal diplomatic relations.
Putin banned flights between Russia and Georgia in 2019, after anti-Kremlin protests broke out in central Tbilisi, the Georgian capital. Russia started requiring visas for incoming Georgian nationals in 2000, citing the threat of terrorism in the North Caucasus, where they were at war in Chechnya at the time.
Putin’s statement on Wednesday drew criticism from pro-Western officials and lawmakers in Georgia. President Salome Zourabichvili, who serves as the country’s ceremonial head of state, called Putin’s moves “provocative” and “unacceptable” as Russia continues to move forward. war in Ukraine, another former Soviet republic.
She also called on the government to convene a meeting of the security council and discuss the introduction of visa requirements for Russian citizens, who can now stay and work in the country. without a visa for up to one year.
Zourabichvili often makes sharp statements criticizing the Georgian government for being too submissive to Russia, but it is the country’s ruling party, the Georgian Dream, that has real power over government policy. The party officially states that it pursues pro-Western policies, but they also argue for a pragmatic approach to developing relations with the Kremlin.
Relations with Russia are the subject of heated debate and division in Georgia, where many members of the pro-Western opposition argue that the country must impose sanctions on Moscow and be more active in supporting Russia. Ukraine aid.
However, since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Georgia has increased its trade with Russia. It also emerged as one of the important transit hubs for goods shipped between Türkiye and Russia, including some goods from the West. The Georgian opposition insists that trade helps Russia evade some Western sanctions, which the Georgian government denies.
Hundreds of thousands of Russians fled their country following the invasion of Ukraine and Putin’s order months later to mobilize troops for the war. Many settled in Georgia, helping to boost the country’s economy by moving their wealth there.
Georgia’s pragmatic approach to relations with Russia has received praise from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov. speak in January that the decision to refrain from imposing sanctions “is respected” from Russia.
By order of Putin, Georgian citizens will have the right to enter Russia without a visa and stay there for 90 days.
The Russian Ministry of Transport said in statement that seven flights will operate between Moscow and Tbilisi per week and that all aircraft used are Russian-made. Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency reported that the Georgian government said it would only allow flights by airlines that are not sanctioned by the West. Most of Russia’s top airlines, including Aeroflot, are subject to those sanctions.
Roman Gotsiridze, a Georgian opposition lawmaker, said in statement on his Facebook account that Putin’s travel and visa decisions “put Georgia on a par” with Belarus, “a country friendly to Russia”.
