Russian airlines began to fulfill Vladimir Putin"s order. The airlines, "Smart", "Pobeda", "Red Drive" and "S 7" have stopped selling tickets to Georgia.
The President of Russia banned flights to Georgia yesterday. The information was published on Kremlin"s official website. According to Vladimir Putin, the goal of this limitation is to protect the Russian national interests and Russian citizens. According to the order, Russian airlines should stop traveling to Georgia from July 8.
In addition, Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the government to take steps to return Russian citizens from Georgia to their homeland.
Dmitry Medvedev and Dimitri Peskov made additional explanations for Vladimir Putin"s decree. The Kremlin spokesperson says that prohibition on flights and travel will remain in force until all the threats to Russian citizens in Georgia will not be eliminated and the situation is not normalized in the country.
Dmitry Medvedev says directly that Moscow has intended to create problems for Georgia"s economy. The Russian Prime Minister responded to Salome Zourabichvili"s statement."It is unfortunate that we hear such rhetoric from Zurabishvili," the head of the Russian government said. According to him, the radical opposition in Georgia has been causing the crisis to blow up the political system in the country.