I think that if Mr. Putin wanted to show that he cares about Georgia, he would withdraw the Russian troops from Abkhazia and Tskhinvali and fulfill his obligations under the 2008 ceasefire agreement, cancel Russia's recognition of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali, the US Ambassador to Georgia, Kelly Degnan, said.
According to her, the United States cannot comment on whether this will affect Georgia's candidate status.
"This raises the question why Putin is doing this for Georgia now, I'm sure no one believes that he cares about the comfort of Georgian passengers. We have seen that sometimes Putin uses the presence of Russians in the country to interfere in this country. I think many Georgians are already worried about the presence of hundreds of thousands of Russians in Georgia, who arrived last year. Now we hear from the Russian tourism agency that another million may arrive as a result of the opening of direct flights. I think if Mr. Putin wanted to show that he cared about Georgia, he would withdraw Russian troops from Abkhazia and Tskhinvali and respect the 2008 ceasefire agreement commitments, which would cancel Russia's recognition of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali. These would be signs that Georgians would appreciate. I remind you that this is a country that invaded Georgia in 2008, tried to destroy Georgia's independence in 1989, tried to suppress the Georgian language in 1978, and has been desecrating Georgian churches throughout the country for centuries. This is a country that is attacking Ukraine, just as it attacked Georgia 15 years ago. It attacks residential buildings, schools, hospitals, separates children from their families. It seems strange to accept this gesture of the bloody regime, which is doing to Ukraine now what it did to Georgia 15 years ago," said Degnan.
Russia canceled the visa regime for Georgian citizens. The relevant decree was issued by the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin. According to Putin's decree, the visa regime will be abolished from May 15. Vladimir Putin also lifted the ban on flights to Georgia for Russian airlines.
*Ambassador Kelly Degnan's quotes in the article have been double-translated from Georgian and wordings may be inaccurate.
