The decision to restore direct air traffic will largely benefit not Georgian citizens, but Russian citizens, perhaps a million citizens who want to come to Georgia. Such a statement made today the US Ambassador to Georgia.

“I understand why Georgian people are worried about this. This is not about sanctioning Georgians. The recent census numbers show there’s only about 130,000 Georgians living in Russia anyway, and most of them are either dual Russian Georgian citizens or if they wanted to leave Russia, they left last year. What this is really about is the maybe million Russian citizens that want to come to Georgia.

This is for the convenience largely of Russians who want to come to Georgia, not about Georgia. I think it’s understandable why people are concerned, why people want to have a better understanding of what this is going to cost Georgia. Again, if there are further steps by Russia to normalize relations with Georgia, while Russia still occupies 20% of Georgia’s territory; still detains eight Georgian citizens in South Ossetia; still puts incredible pressure on this country while Russia is attacking and bombing Ukraine; I think it’s fair for Georgian citizens to be concerned”, - said Kelly Degnan.