“Go to constructive engagement”: Georgia calls for restoration of air links with Russia

Georgia is in favor of an early resumption of direct flights with the Russian Federation, Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani said. According to him, Tbilisi will welcome such a decision of Moscow.

“I would like this decision to be made as soon as possible. Georgia is in every way ready for this. We only welcome if this process resumes soon, ”said the head of the foreign ministry.

The Minister added that the development of tourism is one of the areas that contribute to de-escalation of the situation in the region, which he spoke about at a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

“Relations between people, the development of tourism are those areas that contribute to de-escalation,” quoted Zalkaliani TASS.

Earlier, the Kremlin commented on the prospect of resuming flights between Moscow and Tbilisi. According to the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov, to resolve this issue, one should “have patience”.

Speaking about the timing of the decision, Peskov noted that first it is necessary to achieve certainty in the relations between the two countries, excluding their return "to the aggressive track".

“When the situation will be obvious from the point of view of not returning to this aggressive channel,” the Kremlin representative answered the question of when flights between the two countries would again become possible.

Peskov noted that now we can observe the first examples of communication, including the meeting of the two foreign ministers in New York.

“This is a positive fact,” he pointed out, adding that some politicians in Tbilisi greeted this contact with hostility.

Recall that Sergey Lavrov and David Zalkaliani met on September 26, after which the Russian Foreign Ministry reported that during the conversation, the Foreign Ministers discussed current issues on the bilateral agenda and regional security issues.

Shortly before this meeting, Lavrov himself spoke out in favor of resuming flights with Georgia. The minister suggested that the majority of the Georgian population realized the counterproductiveness of the provocation against Russia.

“I would probably return these flights. And it seems to me that this will be correct after the majority of the Georgian population realized the counterproductive provocative nature of the trick that occurred in the Georgian parliament, ”he said in an interview with Kommersant newspaper.

Commenting on the latest statement by the head of the Georgian Foreign Ministry, a member of the State Duma’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Anton Morozov, noted the importance of the intentions indicated by the Georgian side.

“Of course, such a statement is very important. The Georgian and Russian peoples are closely interconnected by cultural traditions and good neighborly relations, ”the parliamentarian said in an interview with RT.

At the same time, he noted that the current leadership in Georgia by its actions does not contribute to the restoration of full-format relations.

“First they need to change rhetoric and move towards constructive interaction. After that, we will be able to consider some concrete steps to develop bilateral relations, including in the tourism sector. So far we do not see sufficient security guarantees for Russian tourists, ”the deputy concluded.

Protests in Georgia

Recall that at the end of June 2019, mass protests took place in Tbilisi, which were accompanied by attempts to storm state institutions and clashes with the police. The Prosecutor General’s Office of Georgia classified these events as an attempt to seize power by rebellion.

The formal occasion that initiated the protests was the appearance of Russian deputy Sergei Gavrilov at a session of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of Orthodoxy in Tbilisi. Georgian nationalists were outraged by the fact that the delegate sat in the chair, which is usually occupied by the speaker of the country's parliament.

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The Russian delegation was forced to leave Georgia, but protesters continued to take to the streets of Tbilisi. According to the demonstrators, the ruling party “Georgian Dream” was guilty of “betraying” national interests and surrendering positions to Russia. In response to the actions of Georgian radicals and to ensure the safety of its own citizens, Moscow imposed a temporary ban on direct flights to Georgia.

In August, the Georgian side reported that the losses of the tourism industry from the reduction in the flow of tourists from Russia amounted to about $ 60 million, but there were other estimates. So, the former speaker of the Georgian parliament, the leader of the opposition party “United Georgia - Democratic Movement” Nino Burjanadze cited data according to which losses could reach $ 700 million.

After these events, Georgia started talking about the need to resume dialogue with Russia. In late September, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili spoke about this. Later, Prime Minister Georgy Gakharia welcomed the opportunity to improve relations with Moscow, mentioning in this context the resumption of air links between the two countries.

“I welcome those positive changes that can lead to improvement (relations. - RT ), for example, the resumption of flights,” the head of government quoted the press service as saying.

Commenting on the current relations between Moscow and Tbilisi, the expert of the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Studies Vladimir Bruter noted that now there is no conflict between the countries as such, but there are certain subtleties.

“Despite the fact that there are no diplomatic relations between the countries, there was a fairly high level of tourism and direct air communication, Georgia earned good money on this,” Bruter said.

At the same time, the expert believes, Georgia continues to be a relatively hostile state towards Russia, whose authorities are counting on joining NATO and placing appropriate infrastructure on its territory.

In his opinion, in the current environment, Russia should not take unilateral measures without taking into account the political component.

“Of course, Georgia will benefit from the resumption of flights. The question is whether it is beneficial to Russia, ”concluded Bruter.