Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Georgian Government's Interest in 'Normalizing' Relations
By Liza Mchedlidze
Friday, September 29, 2023
According to Russia's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, the current government of Georgia is interested in normalizing relations with Russia. Lavrov discussed this in an interview with the Russian state media outlet TASS.
Russia's Minister of Foreign Affairs stated that they decided to resume flights and cancel the visa regime between the two countries in response to the attitude of the Gharibashvili government.
"When we observed that the current authorities in Tbilisi expressed an interest in normalizing relations with Russia, particularly for the benefit of ordinary people who wish to engage in various activities such as communication, tourism, and business between our countries, and given the historical ties between our economic systems, we reached an agreement with Mr. Gharibashvili's government to resume flights and abolish the visa regime. It's worth noting that the visa-free regime for Russian citizens has been in place for a considerable period, and many of our citizens have made use of it.
Now, with the introduction of a visa-free regime for Georgian citizens and the re-establishment of air communications, our relations have become much more comfortable. The number of flights and the geography of direct flights are expanding, and trade turnover is increasing. Many traditional Georgian export products, such as wine and Borjomi, are highly popular here," he said.
Sergey Lavrov stated that Russia has never held a negative attitude toward the Georgian people and emphasized that Georgians 'have a special place' in Russia's history. In the same interview, the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs mentions that the decision to end diplomatic relations between the two countries was made during the 'Saakashvili regime'.
