Putin cancels the visa policy for Georgian citizens and allows direct flights to Georgia

Direct flights from Russia to Georgia

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law scrapping the visa policy for Georgian citizens starting May 15, 2023 and lifting the ban on direct flights from Russia to Georgia.

According to the decree on the visa policy, an exception is “Georgian citizens entering the Russian Federation for work or for a period of more than 90 days, including for the purpose of obtaining education.”

According to the second decree, the ban on Russian airlines from flying between Georgia and Russia, introduced on June 21, 2019, is declared invalid.

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On March 22 a deputy of the Russian Duma, chairman of the committee on Eurasian integration and relations with compatriots, Leonid Kalashnikov, said that Russia and Georgia are on the verge of restoring direct flights and canceling visas. However, according to Kalashnikov, it is difficult for him to assess when and in what order these decisions will be made.

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili initially did not welcome the idea of resuming air links with Russia.

“At a time when all of our partner countries, in word or deed, express maximum solidarity with the selfless struggle of Ukraine, for me and, I am sure, for the majority of society, the position of the government and the ruling party, to put it mildly, is incomprehensible,” she wrote on Facebook.