TBILISI, May 11. /TASS/. Georgia will be able to receive flights by those Russian air carriers and aircraft from Russia that are absent from EU sanction lists, Georgian Prime Minister Irakly Garibashvili said on Thursday.

"We have seen that [Russian] airlines have already expressed their wish to operate flights. Our position is unambiguous: of course, the planes that are under sanctions will not be let in. Only airlines and aircraft that have not been blacklisted will be allowed to fly. I think this is not a problem," said Garibashvili.

He cited the examples of countries that have direct air links with Russia, such as Israel, Turkey, China and the UAE. Garibashvili also recalled that in the context of discussing trade relations Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev had told him there were 130 flights a week between that country and Russia.

"I want to reassure our friends in Europe, the real friends: it is all about economic and trading relations," Garibashvili said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday signed a decree abolishing visas for Georgian citizens starting from May 15. With another decree Putin lifted the 2019 ban on flights by Russian airlines and the sale of tours to Georgia.

The Russian authorities introduced visas for Georgians in 2000. Georgia canceled visas for Russians in 2012. Under Georgian laws the citizens of Russia may visit the country without visas and stay there for up to one year. Tbilisi severed diplomatic relations with Moscow in 2008 after Russia recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia.