"If Georgia wants to live a normal life with Russia as a neighbor, Moscow is ready to restore ties," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said during a meeting with students at Moscow State University of International Relations. The information is spread by Russian media outlets.
"If Georgia aspires not to maintain the protection of the West by playing the Russian card, but wants to live a normal life with us as a neighbor, we are ready for that at any time.
We wanted to respond to our Georgian neighbors when they introduced a visa-free regime for Russian citizens. At first, we observed what was happening and, of course, we did not forbid anyone to travel to Georgia. A year and a half ago, we were ready to enforce a visa-free regime for Georgian citizens to visit Russia. However, an unpleasant incident took place - a gross provocation against the Russian parliamentary delegation attending the International Orthodox Forum in Tbilisi," Lavrov said.
The Head of the Foreign Affairs Committee Grigory Karasin expressed readiness to discuss the resumption of air traffic with Georgia, to which the Special Representative of the Prime Minister Zurab Abashidze said that the Georgian side is ready to resume flights, but the issue should be discussed at a meeting in September.
Direct air traffic between Russia and Georgia has been suspended since July 8, 2019. The decision to impose the embargo was made by the Russian government after Russian Duma deputy Sergei Gavrilov, along with his delegation were forced to leave Georgia early prior to mass protests. Talks on resumption of flights began as early as last year, although then the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement demanding the resumption of flights in exchange for certain conditions. One of the conditions was to stop the spread of anti-Russian manifestations.
