Russia restores visa-free regime with Georgia from May 15

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russian President Vladimir Putin signed on Wednesday a decree, restoring the visa-free regime with Georgia, effective from May 15.

"To establish that from May 15, 2023, Georgian citizens enter and leave the Russian Federation without visas on the basis of valid identity documents (...), with the exception of citizens entering the Russian Federation for the purpose of employment or for a period of more than 90 days for temporary stay in the Russian Federation, including for the purpose of education," the document says.

In a separate decree, Putin also lifted a ban on the flights of Russian air carriers to Georgia.

Commenting on the decree, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the foreign service cancels its recommendation to refrain from trips to Georgia but calls on Russian citizens to be cautious while visiting this country.

She also said that the decisions on the resumption of flights and the restoration of a visa-free regime for short-term trips of Georgian citizens to Russia are part of Russia's "principled approach of consistently facilitating the conditions of communication and contacts between citizens of Russia and Georgia."

The information about the resumption of direct air flights between Russia and Georgia will be given by the Ministry of Transport in the near future, she said.

Russia banned direct flights with Georgia in 2019, following protests against the invitation of the Russian delegation to participate in the plenary session of the Interparliamentary Assembly of Orthodoxy, held in the Georgian Parliament in Tbilisi.