Russia ends visa regime for Georgia, lifts flight ban

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed decrees abolishing visas for Georgian nationals and lifting a 2019 ban on direct flights to the South Caucasus nation. Beginning May 15, Georgian nationals will be allowed to enter Russia without visas — unless they’re coming to Russia to work or to stay for longer than 90 days. The second decree lifts a ban on Russian airlines carrying out direct flights to Georgia that Russia unilaterally imposed in 2019. Russia-Georgia relations have been rocky and complicated since the Soviet Union’s collapse in the early 1990s. A short war in 2008 ended with Georgia losing control of two Russia-friendly separatist regions.