OREANDA-NEWS Russia is ready to follow the path of restoring diplomatic relations with Georgia, and supports any initiatives of Tbilisi in this direction, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

"We continue to believe that this (normalization of relations) meets the interests of our two peoples... We support any initiatives that are in support of Russian-Georgian normalization. In this context, we welcome the mentioned initiative. We are ready to follow this path," she said during a briefing.

Earlier, the chairman of the Georgian Solidarity for Peace party, Mikhail Zhgenti, expressed hope for the restoration of diplomatic relations between Georgia and Russia, and the opposition Georgian TV company Mtavari Archi, citing a source, reported that Moscow and Tbilisi are actively working to restore diplomatic relations and open the Georgian embassy in Moscow.

There are no diplomatic relations between Russia and Georgia, the dialogue between the countries was maintained within the framework of the Geneva discussions on Transcaucasia and negotiations between Russian Senator Grigory Karasin and the special representative of the Georgian Prime Minister on the settlement of relations with the Russian Federation Zurab Abashidze, held since 2012 in Prague. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were severed by the Georgian side after Moscow recognized the sovereignty of Abkhazia and South Ossetia on August 26, 2008. Tbilisi does not recognize the sovereignty of these republics, considering them its occupied territories.

In mid-May 2023, Russia abolished the visa regime for Georgian citizens, as well as the ban on direct flights. Georgian citizens can enter Russian territory for up to 90 days out of every 180 days with diplomatic, for official, private, business, tourism, humanitarian purposes and for short-term training.