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Crisis in Russian-Georgian relations

Georgian PM in favor of resuming direct flights to Russia

To ensure Russian citizens’ safety, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree, which imposed a temporary ban on passenger flights to Georgia from July 8

Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia EPA-EFE/ZURAB KURTSIKIDZE

Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia

© EPA-EFE/ZURAB KURTSIKIDZE

TBILISI, October 1. /TASS/. Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia has welcomed a possible improvement in relations with Russia, namely the resumption of direct flights between the two countries, the Georgian government’s press service informed on Tuesday.

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Flights from Russia should be resumed - Georgian Airways

"I welcome the positive changes that may lead to an improvement [in relations with Russia — TASS], namely, the resumption of flights," Gakharia noted.

According to the Georgian PM, a possible resumption of direct flights to Russia will benefit "not only tourism, but also thousands of Georgians that face transportation problems." Gakharia stressed that the country’s economy must be braced for such events in the future and be able to manage potential risks.

Last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the Kommersant daily that resumption of direct flights between Russia and Georgia would be the right decision as the majority of Georgians realize that previous anti-Russian provocations were counter-productive.

On June 20, 2019, several thousand protesters amassed near the national parliament in downtown Tbilisi, demanding the resignation of the interior minister and the parliament’s speaker, and tried to storm the building. The protests were sparked by an uproar over the Russian delegation’s participation in the 26th session of the Inter-parliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (IAO). On June 20, IAO President Sergei Gavrilov opened the session in the Georgian parliament. Opposition lawmakers were outraged by the fact that Gavrilov addressed the event’s participants from the parliament speaker’s seat. In protest, they did not allow the IAO session to continue. Shortly after the turmoil in Tbilisi, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili branded Russia an enemy and an occupier on her Facebook page, but later on said that nothing threatened Russian tourists in the country.

To ensure Russian citizens’ safety, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree, which imposed a temporary ban on passenger flights to Georgia from July 8. On June 22, Russia’s Transport Ministry announced that starting on July 8, flights by Georgian airlines to Russia are halted.

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Russia vetoes US-backed UNSC resolution on banning nuclear weapons in outer space

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Russia has "very constructive and friendly relations" with Turkey, Dmitry Peskov stressed

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Ukraine says Western systems ineffective against Russia's electronic warfare

Maria Berlinskaya emphasized that the real effectiveness was determined in real combat conditions, and not at "some training ground in Texas"

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Moscow slams NATO drills near Russian borders as inflammatory

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Press review: US tries to strong-arm China and Zelensky's bid to bring men home

Top stories from the Russian press on Thursday, April 25th

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Russia dissatisfied with UN’s activity under grain deal — senior diplomat

Alexander Pankin noted that during his visit to New York he did not have any talks with UN officials on the Russian-UN memorandum

Ukrainian army strikes own surrendering soldiers — POW

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Belarusian KGB reports thwarting attempted drone strikes on Minsk from Lithuania

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Russian Foreign Ministry denies report of consular services ban abroad

"The ministry's detailed commentary on this outright piece of disinformation will follow in a short while," the Consular Department said

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Ukraine exhausted, needs constant money flow from outside — defense official

Apty Alaudinov added that if the Ukrainian army received long-range weapons, it might try to attack Russia's civilian infrastructure due to its powerlessness on the front

Kiev violates diplomatic relations convention by recruiting mercenaries abroad — diplomat

Maria Zakharova pointed to media reports, according to which Ukrainian embassies in a number of countries are openly campaigning local citizens to join the so-called International Legion of Ukrainian Territorial Defense

Press review: NATO flexes muscles near Russian border and South China Sea runs hot

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