MOSCOW, Jan 24 Ukrainian authorities do not rule out the evacuation of Ukrainian citizens from Georgia in case of resumption of direct flights with Russia, Andriy Kasyanov, Chargé d'Affaires of Ukraine in Georgia, said on Tuesday.
Last Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed hope that direct flights with Georgia would soon be resumed. Irakli Kobakhidze, chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, said that the resumption of direct flights to Georgia from Russia would be welcomed in Tbilisi, as this would ease the situation for citizens. In turn, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili opposed the resumption of direct flights with Russia and instead called on the government to introduce regulations on the stay of Russians in the country.
«In the event of the restoration of direct air communication and the growth of real security risks today, the embassy does not exclude the possibility of contacting international organizations, our international partners in order to consider the possibility of providing assistance in the mass evacuation of Ukrainian citizens from the territory of Georgia,» — quotes Kasyanov's words from the Ukrainian edition of Evropeyskaya Pravda.
He added that the evacuation would only be discussed if there were real threats to the life and security of Ukrainian citizens. «Now we are discussing the possibility of organizing special evacuation routes specifically for those most vulnerable segments of the population of Ukraine who really do not have the means to return. At the same time, we consider land transport as the most optimal,» Kasyanov stressed.