MOSCOW, December 24. /TASS/. The Russian side hopes that the United States will demonstrate sufficient political will to lift the air blockade, which has become meaningless, head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department of the North Atlantic Alexander Gusarov said, adding that the resumption of air traffic between the countries is long overdue.

"The resumption of direct air service between Russia and the United States is long overdue. This step would clearly demonstrate the improving dialogue between the two countries and the revival of mutual trust at the interstate level," he told Izvestia newspaper.

"We hope that the American side will demonstrate sufficient political will to lift the air blockade, which has lost all meaning," Gusarov added.

Normalizing air traffic with Russia would be a significant boost, first and foremost, for the American aviation sector, which is "going through hard times," he noted. "It was precisely this sector that was hit by the self-restrictions imposed under ridiculous pretexts in 2022 by the previous US administration," the diplomat said. "Their result, among other things, was the inability of American national carriers to use Russian airspace. As a result, the United States undermined its own competitiveness, something local business representatives have stated openly and with noticeable regret," he explained.

"We are committed to the earliest possible start of a depoliticized and unconditional dialogue between relevant agencies of the two countries to eliminate the technical obstacles that stand in the way," Gusarov concluded.