TBILISI. May 10 (Interfax) - The Russian leadership's decision to resume air traffic with Georgia and to cancel visas for Georgian citizens is Russia's independent decision, Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili told reporters on Wednesday.
"It is a sovereign decision of the Russian leadership, and every state decides on its own whether to introduce visa requirements for the citizens of a certain country and whether to lift them for citizens of another country," Darchiashvili said.
Russia is home to more than one million Georgian citizens and people of Georgian descent, who maintain close ties with their native country, he said.
"It is through this humanitarian prism that any responsible government can only welcome a decision that helps improve the living conditions of our citizens," the minister said.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili for his part told reporters that "it is up to Russia alone to decide whether to impose these sanctions or lift them, and in this regard we could not have any influence [on Russia's decision]."
At the same time, Papuashvili ruled out any possibility that the decision could somehow make Georgia a location for evading anti-Russian sanctions, but reaffirmed that Georgia itself still has no plans to join the sanctions introduced against Russia.
"Georgia has made its stance on these two issues clear, and we will consciously abide by this position: the first one is that Georgia will not become a place where individuals and legal entities will be able to evade sanctions against the Russian Federation. Second, Georgia is not going to introduce sanctions against the Russian Federation," he said.
Papuashvili explained the refusal to join the anti-Russian sanctions with reference to the national interests of the Georgian population - in order to avoid escalating negative relations.
Currently, Russian citizens do not need visas to visit Georgia.