Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Thursday said: “Sadly, no one in the public wonders why the West or the previous government did not launch the sanctions campaign in 2008.”

“Did they levy any sanctions on anyone? – Zero,” he remarked after the Russian government lifted its ban on direct flights with Georgia on Wednesday.

“After the August war [Russia-Georgia War], people died, we lost territories, and nobody reviewed anything. The same policy was maintained, and if you’re asking how much and what value of commodities the EU purchased from Russia after the war, the answer is 2.5 trillion dollars. I also recall that when Russia suspended the flights in 2019, the acting US ambassador, the European Union, called on Russia to restore the flights.

We sympathize with Ukraine and Ukrainians. I really want and we all want this war to end soon. But the war in Ukraine does not mean that we should be captured, destroyed, dragged into war, open the second front, our cities being bombed, leveled, turned into training grounds, and our people should not be allowed to breathe.

Where is the logic? I ask our European and Western friends – If you tell me to stop trade, economy, and flights, why don’t you do it so? Why don’t you quit trading?! Why did they give Russia $300 billion last year? I have a pretty straightforward question as a citizen who wants the country to join the EU. After that, they will tell us not to let tourists [enter the country].  I think our people well-understand everything. We want peace, stability, prosperity, and unification of our country,” the PM underscored.

According to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent decree, from May 15, 2023, Georgian citizens will be able to enter and leave Russia without a visa for up to 90 days on the basis of valid identity documents.

Moscow cut off the direct air links between Russia and Georgia in 2019, following the anti-Russian protests in Tbilisi.