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Another 30,000 Russians wish to return home from overseas — Lavrov

There is no need to introduce a system of exit permits for Russians wishing to travel after the coronavirus pandemic, the top diplomat said

MOSCOW, May 15. /TASS/. About 30,000 Russian nationals who wish to return home still remain overseas, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with RBC on Friday.

"According to our estimates, another 30,000 Russians would like to return to Russia. Twice as many people have registered on the government services website but the checks that we are carrying out together with the Interior Ministry and the Communications Ministry show that many of those registered don’t plan to return to Russia," he said. Lavrov explained that those Russian nationals permanently reside in other countries but they "decided to take advantage of the situation and register to see how things play out." "However, we estimate the number of those truly wishing to return at about 30,000. It’s a large number if you think about how many people a plane can carry," the top diplomat added.

According to him, there is much work to be done. "The work has been organized in many aspects but extraordinary situations continue to emerge, though less frequently," Lavrov noted.

Exit permits for travel

There is no need to introduce a system of exit permits for Russians wishing to travel after the coronavirus pandemic, Sergey Lavrov stated.

"I don’t see any need and have not heard about any plans of this kind among people who even have the slightest responsibility for making these decisions," he said, answering the question if Russia is planning to introduce exit visas for Russians after easing the restrictions imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus.

"I don’t know who talks about that. If people yearn for the Soviet Union, it is their right to do so, I guess," Lavrov noted.

To combat the coronavirus pandemic, Russia fully suspended regular and charter air travel on March 27, airlines can only carry out flights to bring Russian citizens home.

Help for travel sector after pandemic

Russia’s Foreign Ministry is ready to help the country’s travel sector elaborate solutions after the coronavirus pandemic, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.

"I think the travel sector will make conclusions from this situation. We will be ready to help," he said in an interview with RBC, recommending travellers to buy insurance policies, which is optional now.

He stressed that foreign trips are not a privilege but a constitutional right of Russian nationals. "Planning a trip abroad, each person should take decisions independently," he said.

In late December 2019, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus — named COVID-19 by the WHO — have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia.

On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, over 4,543,000 people have been infected worldwide and more than 303,000 deaths have been reported. In addition, so far, over 1,712,000 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.