MOSCOW, February 11. /TASS/. Moscow has been registering a growing interest among foreign citizens in visiting Russia, the director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Consular Department, Alexey Klimov, told TASS.

"In 2023, Russian diplomatic missions and consulates abroad issued 840,000 visas, a significant increase from 2022 when 510,000 visas were issued," Klimov said. Also, Russia issued 170,000 electronic visas in the first five months since the e-visa project was launched last August, he added.

"Therefore, not only foreign interest in visiting Russia has maintained, it is growing," the diplomat said.

Russia is ready to "keep its doors open" to all foreigners who are friendly to the country, Klimov concluded.