Parliament Speaker: Both banning, resuming flights were Russia’s “unilateral” decisions, Georgia had no influence
In 2019 when Russia suspended flights with Georgia, Western colleagues, as well as ambassadors in Georgia, called on Russia to lift “this sanction”, the Parliament Speaker noted, adding Russia had at present made the “unilateral” decision to resume flights and lift “unfair sanctions” on Georgia. Photo via Shalva Papuashvili/Facebook
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Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Sunday said both banning and now resuming flights with Georgia had been “unilateral” decisions of the Russian Government and Georgia had neither influence nor “any kind of leverage” over the matter.
Papuashvili was responding to the Russian President Vladimir Putin’s latest comments made to the media, in which the latter said "I thought the leadership of Georgia had repeatedly raised an issue of lifting visa requirements and restoring normal air traffic, and we took this step”.
In 2019 when Russia suspended flights with Georgia, Western colleagues, as well as ambassadors in Georgia, called on Russia to lift “this sanction”, the Parliament Speaker noted, adding Russia had at present made the “unilateral” decision to resume flights and lift “unfair sanctions” on Georgia.
In general, it is good [removing sanctions], everyone should lift the sanctions imposed on Georgian citizens”, he stressed.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Saturday said just a few months after the 2008 Russia-Georgia war, the previous Georgian Government had asked Russia for direct flights with the country and the former President Mikheil Saakashvili had lifted a visa regime with Russia in 2012.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Thursday said Javier Colomina, the NATO Secretary General's Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, during his visit to Georgia, “once again emphasised” that “no one” was urging the country to impose bilateral sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Wednesday told the ongoing Qatar Economic Forum in Doha his Government’s “clear” position that airline companies sanctioned for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would not operate in Georgia.
Georgian Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili on Monday said even though the country had not imposed sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, the country’s authorities were “making sure” its territory would not be used for circumvention of the international sanctions for the war.
Shalva Papuashvili, the Georgian Parliament Speaker, on Tuesday urged the country’s Western partners to help Tbilisi overcome its “security predicament” and get its “well-deserved” membership in the European Union and NATO, instead of offering “undue criticism” on its alleged strengthening of ties with the Kremlin on the backdrop of the latter’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Georgian Economy Minister Levan Davitashvili on Monday said the decision of the Ukrainian Government to put the flagship Georgian Airways carrier on its list of sanctioned companies was an “entirely political decision”.
Oleksandr Shulha, the Ukrainian Charge D'affaires in Georgia, was summoned to the Georgian Foreign Ministry on Monday after the decision of Ukraine's Government to put the flagship Georgian Airways carrier on its list of sanctioned companies, the local media said.