Russia thanks Georgia for assistance in repatriation of Russian citizens amid pandemic
At a press-conference on Thursday Maria Zakharova said that the contract of Russian seamen expired and as the regular flights between Russia and Nigeria had been suspended it became complicated to return the Russian seamen to their home country. Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia.
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Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has thanked Georgia for helping three Russian seamen in Nigeria return home on a repatriation flight, as well as for assistance in the repatriation of Russian nationals from Georgia.
At a press-conference on Thursday Zakharova said that the contract of Russian seamen expired and as the regular flights between Russia and Nigeria had been suspended it became complicated to return the Russian seamen to their home country.
Our Georgian counterparts agreed to bring the Russian citizens on their flight, so the Russian seamen arrived from Lagos to Tbilisi on June 7, where they met with representatives of the Russian interests section at the Swiss embassy and took them to the Zemo Larsi border checkpoint. I take the occasion to thank the Georgian Foreign Ministry, the section of Georgian interests in Moscow, as well as the Swiss Embassy in Tbilisi that ensured the coordination of numerous humanitarian problems emerging during the evacuation of Russian nationals," she said.
Zakharova said that last week Georgia helped Russia bring back two Russian citizens who were in Turkey for medical treatment and also to bring 173 Russian citizens from Armenia through Georgia to Russia.
She said that Russia, in turn, has helped Georgian citizens return from Brazil to Georgia.
Georgian Foreign Ministry says that Russia has been particularly active in its creeping annexation of more Georgian territories over the past two months and its (Russia’s) fight against the US-built Lugar Centre in Tbilisi has become intense.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that all states party to the Open Skies Treaty ‘must fully implement their commitments and obligations’, while Russia has imposed flight restrictions ‘inconsistent with the Treaty’.
State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality of Georgia Ketevan Tsikhelashvili has urged the residents of the Russia-occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) regions to follow recommendations of the World Health Organization, saying that the Georgian government is ready help them prevent the spread of COVID-19 if the need arises.
De facto officials of the Russian occupied Georgian region of Abkhazia have announced that the Enguri Bridge crossing point, which connects the occupied region with the rest of the country, will close at 8 p.m. on March 14.
Georgia is ready to perform the function of a transit country in the process of the repatriation of seafarers starting June 15, announces the Georgian Economy Minister Natia Turnava. Turnava said that Georgia has taken into account the guidelines and requirements of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and the World Health Organisation (WHO), which, despite the strict safety standards, greatly simplifies the process of moving seafarers across the country.