Russia says ready for talks on regular flights with Georgia

January 31, 2010 - 0:0

MOSCOW (Xinhua) -- Russia sees no major stumbling block to the resumption of regular flights between Russia and Georgia, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Friday.

“On our part there are no fundamental obstacles to the resumption of regular air links,” Andrei Nesterenko was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying at a news briefing.
“Naturally, this implies a preliminary understanding on several technical issues between the aviation authorities of Russia and Georgia,” he said, adding that a schedule of flights is under discussion.
The spokesman said Russia would be ready to hold talks with Georgia if Tbilisi shows interest.
Direct flights between Tbilisi and Moscow were halted in 2006 over a spy row. The flights were resumed for a short time in 2008, but were suspended again after a five-day war in August of that same year.
A Georgian Airways charter flight arrived in Moscow earlier this month in the first direct air service between the two countries since their brief war in 2008. The direct flight signaled an easing of tensions between the two former Soviet republics.