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Russia, Georgia can agree on some issues in interests of their citizens — Russian official

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree waiving the visa requirement for Georgian citizens, beginning on May 15

MOSCOW, May 10. /TASS/. Although full normalization of relations between Russia and Georgia is currently unlikely, the parties can reach an agreement on a number of issues that are in the best interests of their citizens, Chairman of Russia’s State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration, and Relations with Compatriots Leonid Kalashnikov told TASS.

"I don't believe complete normalization is possible. There are still many issues with Abkhazia and South Ossetia that we cannot resolve. But, at the same time - and we discussed this several times in the [State] Duma - you can find a common ground at least in the interests of those citizens who live here, around a million Georgians," he said.

Kalashnikov added that Georgia attracts a large number of Russian tourists. In terms of next steps, he proposed first assessing the impact of previous decisions.

Earlier on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree waiving the visa requirement for Georgian citizens, beginning on May 15. Another presidential decree canceled a ban on flights of Russian airlines to Georgia and on selling tours to the country which had been in effect since 2019.

The visa regime with Georgia was introduced by a decision of Russian authorities in 2000. That said, Georgia waived the visa requirement for Russians in 2012. According to Georgian legislation, Russian citizens can visit Georgia visa-free and stay there for up to one year.

Diplomatic ties between the two countries were severed by Tbilisi in 2008 after Russia recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

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