PM says “no formal talks” with Moscow led to resumption of direct Russia-Georgia flights
PM Garibashvili claimed there was “nothing scandalous” in Lavrov’s statement. Photo: Government press office
Tweet 
Share
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Thursday said Russia had “unilaterally resumed” direct flights with Georgia in May, and “no formal talks” had been held on the topic with Moscow, in response to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s comments on the topic earlier this week.
The Russian news agency Tass cited Lavrov as saying on Thursday the Kremlin’s move to resume direct flights with Georgia - suspended in 2019 by the decision of Russian President Vladimir Putin - had been motivated by the Georgian Government’s interest to normalise relations with Moscow.
He noted the decision had been agreed with the Georgian Government, along with another decision by Putin to cancel visa requirements for visitors from Georgia.
In his press comments, Garibashvili claimed there was “nothing scandalous” in the statement, as both resumption of direct flights and the cancellation of visa requirements required approval by the Georgian Government.
The Russian President said he had made the decisions unilaterally, and Lavrov has confirmed this. Of course, the decisions to come into operation needed the agreement with the Georgian Government, namely with the Aviation Agency of the Ministry of Economy. Otherwise, no flights could be operated”, Garibashvili said.
He stressed his office had done “everything very openly”, and welcomed Moscow's decision on the flights as “beneficial” for Georgian citizens living in Russia.
Garibashvili also reiterated the stance of his Government that only non-sanctioned aircraft and airlines would be allowed into the country on the backdrop of Moscow’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine.
Mamuka Mdinaradze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party in the Parliament, on Monday rejected criticism by the domestic opposition and the United States Ambassador on restoration of direct flights between Georgia and Russia as “illogical”.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili, on Wednesday, responded to the Russian Government lifting its ban on flights with Georgia and visa requirements for citizens of the country by saying it was a “sole decision” of official Moscow and the Georgian side “could not have any influence” on it.
Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the European Integration Committee of the Georgian Parliament, on Wednesday responded to the Russian Government lifting its ban on flights with Georgia and visa requirements for citizens of the country by saying the moves were designed to “create obstacles” for Georgia’s European integration.
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.
Zurab Abashidze, the Georgian Prime Minister’s Special Representative in Relations with Russia, on Tuesday reacted to an audio recording released on YouTube that allegedly contained his exchange with Grigory Karasin, the Chair of Russia’s Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs, in March 2022 over resumption of direct flights between the states by saying there was “nothing scandalous in it”.