MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday abolished visas for Georgian nationals and lifted a 2019 ban on direct flights to the South Caucasus nation, a move that comes amid rocky relations between the two countries and that was quickly denounced by Georgia’s President as a “provocation”.
Putin signed, starting from May 15, Georgian nationals will be allowed to enter Russia without visas unless they’re coming to Russia to work or to stay for longer than 90 days.
Another decree lifts a ban on direct flights by Russian airlines to Georgia. Following Putin’s decrees, Russia’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement lifting its 2019 recommendation for Russian citizens to avoid travelling to Georgia.
Russia-Georgia relations have been complicated since the Soviet Union’s collapse in the early 1990s.