OREANDA-NEWSAir traffic between Russia and Georgia can be restored in the first half of 2020. Until the New Year, it will not be possible to resume due to the political crisis in Georgia, a Russian newspaper reports on Wednesday, citing a source in the Russian government. “Most likely, the resumption of flights will happen after the New Year”, a source in the government told the publication.

According to him, Russia unilaterally interrupted the flight connection, therefore, it will cancel the decision unilaterally. The Special Representative of the Prime Minister of Georgia for Relations with the Russian Federation Zurab Abashidze confirmed to Izvestia that Russia has the last word on the issue of resuming flights between the two countries. He stressed that Georgia "will welcome this".

Protests in Tbilisi began after the Georgian parliament on November 14 didn't support the idea of constitutional amendments regarding the holding of parliamentary elections in 2020 according to a proportional system with zero electoral threshold. Most of the majority deputies from the ruling party opposed this initiative, which drafted the bill.