MOSCOW, August 4. /TASS/. Western countries are openly exerting pressure on Georgia over its dialogue with Russia, Head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Fourth CIS Department Denis Gonchar has told TASS in an interview.

"Western countries are openly exerting pressure on Tbilisi, regardless of the fact that neither direct air service nor other integral elements of Russian-Georgian trade and economic relations violate any of the existing regimes of sanctions," the Russian diplomat said, commenting on West’s response to latest developments in the Russian-Georgian dialogue.

"We view attempts of exterritorial use of illegitimate anti-Russian sanctions as interference into domestic affairs of sovereign nations and their relations with third countries," he continued.

Gonchar went on to say that the Russian government made the decision to resume direct air service with Georgia and introduce visa-free regime for the country’s residents "based on the need to facilitate contacts between the people of Russia and Georgia and to assist economic and humanitarian contacts between Moscow and Tbilisi."

"We will take these considerations as our guides in the future," the diplomat added.

On May 10, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree abolishing the visas for Georgian nationals as of May 15. In another decree, he cancelled the ban on flights by Russian airlines to Georgia and on sales of tours to Georgia, which had been in effect since 2019. The Russian airline Azimut started flights to Georgia on May 19, and Georgian Airways made its first flight to Russia on May 20.