TBILISI, May 11./TASS/. Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili called on other countries to cancel their visa regime with Georgia and open direct flights, if they do not like Russia’s doing so.

"If someone out there does not like the protocol of flights from Russia or the visa-free regime, they can start their own direct flights from America, establish a visa-free regime for our citizens with America, with other countries, with China and so on," Garibashvili told Georgian reporters on Thursday.

Earlier on Thursday, US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan told Georgian journalists she was certain that Russian President Vladimir Putin didn’t abolish the visa requirements for Georgian citizens because he cared about the comfort of Georgian passengers.

On Wednesday, Putin signed a decree to abolish visa requirements for Georgian nationals starting on May 15. In another decree, the president lifted the ban on flights by Russian airlines and on sales of tours to Georgia that had been in effect since 2019. Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili branded these decisions as provocative, while Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili said that he welcomed the visa-free travel and direct flights.

The visa regime with Georgia was first introduced by a decision of the Russian authorities in 2000. Meanwhile, Russian nationals have enjoyed visa-free trips to Georgia since 2012. Under Georgian law, citizens of Russia may visit the country without a visa and stay in Georgia for up to a year. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were severed by Tbilisi in 2008 after Russia recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia.