"Putin meant the 'National Movement'" - reaction of Georgian government to resumption of direct flights

Government on direct flights

The Russian president was actually referring to the opposition National Movement party when he talked about resuming direct flights between Russia and Georgia, the Georgian prime minister and leaders of the ruling Georgian Dream party say. According to them, they did not ask the Russian president for anything of the sort, but they did not object to the resumption of air travel either. According to Putin himself, the Georgian leadership has repeatedly raised questions about the abolition of visas and the resumption of direct flights.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was surprised by the reaction in Georgia to the abolition of the visa regime for citizens of the country and the restoration of direct flights.

“For me, the reaction that followed was a complete surprise. I thought that everyone would say: well, thank you, good. No, there is some kind of completely incomprehensible furore over this issue. Very strange. And just, frankly, unexpected. When I look from the outside, I think are they completely crazy, or what? It is not clear what is going on there,” Putin said.

According to Putin, the resumption of direct flights was his proposal and decision, which is connected “with a number of circumstances”, including the holiday season. “I also wanted to support people who are striving to build normal relations with Russia in Georgia itself,” the Russian President said.

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili: “We have not had any talks with Russian government officials about this [the resumption of direct flights]. We know that many members of the diaspora have asked for this, and Georgian business and other groups have been asking for this for years.

The main thing I want to say is that if anyone asked for the restoration of air communication and trade with Russia, it is Saakashvili and his government. Perhaps, as it seems to me, the president [Vladimir Putin] was referring to the Saakashvili government.”

Georgian Dream Chairman Irakli Kobakhidze: “Putin said that he was surprised by the protest from people who, it seems, demanded such a decision themselves. There was no protest from our side, as you know, we noted that it is important for our citizens to restore air traffic. This was our position. When Putin spoke about those who from the Georgian side demanded the resumption of air traffic and a visa-free regime, he apparently meant the National Movement.”

Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze: “The surprise in Putin’s statement about the reaction here to his decision [on a visa-free regime and the restoration of air traffic] was due to the fact that the same people protested today who demanded just this yesterday. They appealed to Russia and urged Russian citizens to come to Georgia and open a business here and so on.

The government, of course, did not object to the restoration of air traffic and the abolition of visas. As you know, this was a unilaterally sanctioned matter.”

Speaker of Parliament Shalva Papuashvili: “Both the suspension of flights and the resumption of flights were unilateral decisions of Russia. Georgia had no influence on this. We only remember 2019 when direct flights stopped. Then, including our Western colleagues, including the ambassadors of Western countries in Georgia, called on Russia to lift this sanction. Because, you know, back then the flight ban was a sanction from Russia.”

Georgian Dream MP Gia Volsky: “If the Georgian side had not been interested in creating better conditions for its compatriots, of course air traffic would not have been restored and, of course, what is called a confrontation with economic sanctions would have happened, which could destroy Georgia. This is where all of our decisions come from. As for the decision to resume flights, Russia itself made the decision to stop flights and resume them.”

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On May 10, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a document on the abolition of the visa regime for Georgian citizens from May 15, 2023. By the second decree, Putin lifted the ban on air travel from Russia to Georgia.

According to the document, the exception is “citizens entering the Russian Federation for work or for a period of more than 90 days, including for the purpose of obtaining education.”

By another decree of Putin, the President of Russia lifted the ban on flights to Georgia for Russian airlines.

According to the document, the decree of the President of the Russian Federation of June 21, 2019, which prohibited Russian airlines from flying between Georgia and Russia, was declared invalid.

According to the Civil Aviation Agency, in addition to the Russian airline Azimut, regular flights on the Tbilisi-Moscow-Tbilisi route are also launched by Georgian Airways. According to the flight application submitted by the airline to the Civil Aviation Agency, from May 20, flights will be operated seven times a week.

The Civil Aviation Agency of Georgia issued the required permit on May 16.

So far, the visa regime with Russia has been canceled unilaterally. Direct flights have ceased since July 2019 after the so-called “Gavrilov’s night”.