Russia agreed on Tuesday to restore its air link with Georgia, which has been suspended for more than 17 months amid tensions between the ex-Soviet neighbors.
Russia's Transport Ministry said in a statement that it agreed to restore the link, starting next Tuesday, after Georgia agreed to pay a debt for navigation services provided to its planes over Russia.
While Moscow cited financial reasons for the suspension of the air link, Russia's relations with its small southern neighbor have been tense since US-backed Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili came to power in late 2003, vowing to integrate Georgia closely with the West.
Russia suspended the air link in October 2006 after Georgian authorities briefly detained four Russian military officers it accused of spying.
While Moscow continues to bristle at Saakashvili's push to join NATO, the two neighbors recently have made efforts to ease tensions. Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Saakashvili on the sidelines of a summit of leaders of ex-Soviet nations in Moscow last month, and both governments have moderated their statements.
On Tuesday, Russian Deputy Transport Minister Boris Krol sent a letter to Georgian Economics Minister Vakhtang Lezhava saying Russia had agreed to resume regular flights, the Transport Ministry said.
Russia's Foreign Ministry hailed the resumption of air travel as an "important step toward restoring traditional good-neighborly ties" between the two nations.
It said the decision to restore the air link came after Georgia paid Russia's air navigation service US$2 million and agreed to pay a further US$1.7 million through October to fully settle its debt.
There was no immediate comment from Georgian officials.
Despite the restoration of air travel, tensions remain over what Georgian authorities see as Russia's support for Georgia's breakaway provinces, Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Both regions have had de facto independence since wars in the 1990s, when Russian peacekeepers were deployed to observe ceasefires. No country recognizes their governments, but Moscow has tacitly supported their autonomy -- granting most of their residents Russian passports and maintaining trade ties.
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
‘BODIES EVERYWHERE’: The incident occurred at a Filipino festival celebrating an anti-colonial leader, with the driver described as a ‘lone suspect’ known to police Canadian police arrested a man on Saturday after a car plowed into a street party in the western Canadian city of Vancouver, killing a number of people. Authorities said the incident happened shortly after 8pm in Vancouver’s Sunset on Fraser neighborhood as members of the Filipino community gathered to celebrate Lapu Lapu Day. The festival, which commemorates a Filipino anti-colonial leader from the 16th century, falls this year on the weekend before Canada’s election. A 30-year-old local man was arrested at the scene, Vancouver police wrote on X. The driver was a “lone suspect” known to police, a police spokesperson told journalists at the
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has unveiled a new naval destroyer, claiming it as a significant advancement toward his goal of expanding the operational range and preemptive strike capabilities of his nuclear-armed military, state media said yesterday. North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim attended the launching ceremony for the 5,000-tonne warship on Friday at the western port of Nampo. Kim framed the arms buildup as a response to perceived threats from the US and its allies in Asia, who have been expanding joint military exercises amid rising tensions over the North’s nuclear program. He added that the acquisition
An American man identified as the son of a deputy director of the CIA was killed in eastern Ukraine last year while fighting under contract for the Russian military, an investigation by independent Russian media said. Michael Alexander Gloss, 21, died on April 4 last year in “Eastern Europe,” an obituary published by his family said. He was the son of Juliane Gallina, who was appointed the deputy director for digital innovation at the CIA in February last year. The story of how the son of a top-ranking US spy died fighting for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of
RSS