According to a State Department spokesperson, "The entire Western community has distanced itself from this brutal regime—now is not the time to increase engagement with Russia“.
"Many Western nations, including the United States, prohibit Russian planes from entering their airspace. We would be concerned if flights between Russia and Georgia resumed, given the possible sanctions exposure for companies at Georgia’s airports if they were to service aircraft subject to additional import and export controls.
"The entire Western community has distanced itself from this brutal regime—now is not the time to increase engagement with Russia," a State Department spokesperson told Europetime.
According to the chairman of Georgian Dream Irakli Kobakhidze, if the unilateral sanction imposed by the Russian Federation regarding flights to Georgia is lifted, it will be welcome in the interests of fellow citizens and countrymen.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili stated that restoring direct flights between Georgia and the Russian Federation is unacceptable given the international community’s and all Georgia’s partners’ solidarity with Ukraine.
On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, speaking at a news conference on the performance of Russian diplomacy in 2022, said he hoped that Russia and Georgia would soon be able to resume direct air service.
Russia suspended direct flights to Georgia in 2019. On June 20, 2019, thousands of people protested against Russian lawmaker Gavrilov, who took the speaker’s seat in the Georgian parliament at the session of the 26th Orthodox Inter-Parliamentary General Assembly in Georgia.
