Acting US ambassador: Georgia is a safe country, we urge Russia to remove flight ban
Acting US Ambassador to Georgia Elizabeth Rood says that she welcomes statements by Russian and Georgian politicians that the current tension should be eased. Photo: US embassy press office.
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Acting US Ambassador to Georgia Elizabeth Rood says that Georgia is a safe country and Russia should remove the ban on direct flights to Georgia, which came into force on July 8.
Rood says that measures taken against Georgia amid anti-occupation rallies in Tbilisi were “disproportionate.”
Tourists are coming to Georgia as it is a safe country. We, the United States, strongly support Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders,” Rood said.
The Russian ban on direct flights to Georgia was announced by President Vladimir Putin on June 21, after protesters in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi tried to storm the Georgian parliament on June 20 when a Russian MP addressed the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy forum in Tbilisi from the seat of the Georgian parliamentary speaker.
Russia banned flights over “supposed fears” for the safety of its citizens and also tightened inspections of Georgian wine imports due to alleged safety concerns.
- Click here to read will the ban on flights affect the Georgian economy?
‘I wouldn’t do that out of respect for the Georgian people’
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he did not support a parliamentary call to impose tough economic sanctions on Georgia. Earlier today, the Russian parliament unanimously backed a resolution urging the government to draw up sanctions against Georgia, which included halting the import of wine and mineral waters from Georgia to the Russian Federation and putting in place a ban on remittances from Russia.
The Russian State Duma adopted a statement at a plenary session today, urging the government of Russia to impose tough economic sanctions on Georgia and halt the import of wine and mineral waters from Georgia to the Russian Federation and put in place a ban on remittances from Russia.
The State Duma Committee on Foreign Affairs has supported the idea of halting the import of wine and mineral waters from Georgia to the Russian Federation, as well as putting in place a ban on remittances from Russia, reports TASS.
Flights between Georgia and Russia have been banned starting today following the recent decision of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The ban on flights was announced after protesters in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi tried to storm the Georgian parliament on June 20 when a Russian MP addressed a forum of politicians at the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy from the speaker’s chair.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says that the ban on direct flights to Georgia will be removed when “security threats” to Russians in Georgia are eliminated.
Georgian Foreign Ministry has responded to the recent statement of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who said that Russia will remove the flight ban on Georgia when the country has fully ensured the safety of Russian citizens in Georgia. Lavrov has urged the Georgian government to “realise the damage” the country will suffer if the current tension with Russia continues.
The US President Donald Trump has presented Californian Kelly C. Degnan for the role of the new US ambassador to Georgia. Degnan has 25 years of diplomatic experience and is a recipient of the Secretary of State’s Expeditionary Service Award.
The Georgian Patriarchate said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent explanation of how Georgia “engulfed” the currently Russian-occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) regions “has caused a negative reaction among our people”. "Such distortion of historic facts continues to deepen the existing conflicts”, the Patriarchate said.
The United States President Donald Trump’s nominee for Ambassador to Georgia Kelly C. Degnan said if confirmed, she would “build on the productive partnership” that US and Georgia have developed so far.
Georgia has received $4,348,400,000 in financial aid from the United States between 1992 and 2020, the Congressional Research Service Report reads.
The US Senate has approved Kelly Degnan as the new ambassador of the US to Georgia, the diplomat who has 25 years of diplomatic experience and is a recipient of the Secretary of State’s Expeditionary Service Award. The US President Donald Trump presented Californian Degnan for the role in September 2019. Before the nomination to the post Degnan served as the political advisor to the Commander of United States Naval Forces Europe – United States Naval Forces Africa.