Kelly Degnan, the United States ambassador to Georgia, on Friday challenged the position of the Georgian Dream authorities that resumed direct Russia-Georgia flights would benefit “one million Georgians” living in Russia, by saying that “one million Russians” would arrive in Georgia, following the Kremlin’s move last week to lift travel and visa ban with Georgia. 

In her press comments, the diplomat stressed she understood the “concerns” of the Georgian people over lifting the bans amid Moscow’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine and its occupation of 20 percent of Georgian territories.

She also noted, according to official figures 113,000 Georgians,”with the majority of them holding double citizenship”, were living in Russia currently. 

“Therefore, it is quite understandable why there is concern among Georgians, and it is also understandable that they want to know how much this will cost Georgia. Russia still occupies the territories of Georgia, still puts pressure on Georgia, arrests people in the occupied territories, and if Moscow wants to normalize relations with Georgia, they should stop all this first”, Degnan said. 

The landing of the Russia-based Azimuth airlines in Tbilisi airport on Friday, four years after Moscow canceled direct flights with Georgia due to anti-Kremlin protests, have caused turmoil in the country, with the opposition announcing a rally later today to protest the government’s approval of flights.