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Russia poised to meet Georgia halfway — Putin

On May 10, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on lifting visa requirements for citizens of Georgia from May 15

MOSCOW, May 26. /TASS/. Moscow is willing to meet Georgia halfway, but needs to see something from Georgia before it does anything, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.

"We are ready to go our part of the way; we are taking steps in this direction and will continue to do so depending on how our partners react to this," the president said at a meeting with Business Russia members, speaking about the lifting of visas and resumption of direct flights from Russia to Georgia and back.

On May 10, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on lifting visa requirements for citizens of Georgia from May 15. In another decree, the president canceled the ban on flights to Georgia operated by Russian air carriers and on selling tours to the country. On May 19, an Azimuth flight landed at Tbilisi International Airport. It was the first Moscow-Tbilisi flight in the past four years. On May 20, Georgia’s flagship carrier, Georgian Airways, launched direct flights to Russia. Russian air carrier Red Wings will start flying to Georgia in June.

"I have never doubted that this would be good for business," the Russian president said, explaining his decision. He acknowledged that he was very pleased when a Georgian businessman confirmed as much at the meeting.

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