Citizens of the Republic of Georgia can now enter the Russian Federation freely following two decrees issued by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, May 10th, that reinstated visa-free travel and lifted a ban on direct flights to the South Caucasus country that has been in place since 2019.
Per the decree, the current visa regulation, implemented back in 2000, will be canceled on May 15th, 2023, and will allow Georgian citizens to enter the Russian Federation for up to 90 days without a visa, the Tbilisi-based news outlet Civil Georgia reports.
Citizens from most former Soviet republics enjoy visa-free access to Russia.
In October 2006, Russia ended all direct flights to Georgia in the wake of a spy scandal between the two countries. After having been resumed in 2008 for a few months, they were again stopped due to the Russo-Georgian War.
In an official statement, Russia’s Transport Ministry announced that Russian airlines would soon begin operating seven flights per week between Moscow and the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, citing that in doing so it hopes to “facilitate the conditions for communications and contacts” between the two countries.
Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili (from the party Georgian Dream) has welcomed Moscow’s decision, telling the press in a statement: “From a humanitarian point of view… anything and any decision that facilitates the life, movement, and business of our citizens is, of course, positive and welcome.” He underscored that “one million ethnic Georgians live in Russia,” who have family members in Georgia.
Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili (Georgian Dream) also welcomed Russia’s decision, saying it “will simplify the daily living conditions of our citizens, and it will give them the chance to communicate and travel freely and easily.”
The move, without a doubt, signals warming relations between Moscow and Tbilisi, which under past Georgian governments have been icy and tense.
Washington, for its part, has signaled concern about increasingly cordial relations between Moscow and Tbilisi, with one of its top State Department officials issuing a veiled threat over the resumption of direct flights.
When asked about Russia’s lifting its visa regime and flight bans for Georgia, Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson of the U.S. State Department, said in a press briefing that if direct flights from Georgia to Russia resume, “companies could be at risk for sanctions,” and added that now is not the time for any country to increase its engagement with Russia.
Responding to Western criticism about the restoration of direct flights and the end of the visa regime, Prime Minister Garibashvili highlighted that Georgia’s annual trade with Russia is about 1 billion U.S. dollars, and added that what European Union trades in four days with Russia, Georgia trades in one year.
“If someone does not like the resumption of flights to and from Russia or the visa-free regime, they can open other flights, direct flights from America, open the visa-free regime for our citizens in America, other countries, China, etc.,” Garibashvili stated.
