President of Georgia Opposes Revival of Air Traffic with Russia

Salome Zourabichvili, the president of Georgia, spoke against restoring direct air travel with Russia on Friday.

In a statement made and made public by the press service, Zourabichvili called for introducing more limitations on Russian visitors to Georgia.

"We need restrictions for getting permission for employment, launching the company, buying property, or opening Russian-language schools," she stated. "I do not welcome the revival of air traffic with Russia."

Sergey Lavrov, the foreign minister of Russia, expressed his optimism that direct air travel between his country and Georgia would soon be possible during a news conference on the performance of Russian diplomacy in 2022.

Following anti-Russian protests organized by the Georgian opposition and Sergey Gavrilov's participation, Russia banned direct flights to Georgia in 2019.