Vladimir Putin said Friday he was "totally surprised" by the protests that took place in Georgia against the Kremlin when Russia restored its air links with this pro-Western country. Dozens of Georgians protested last week outside an airport in the capital Tbilisi when a Russian airliner landed in the former Soviet republic for the first time since 2019. And this against the backdrop of the offensive launched in Ukraine by Russia, which the West seeks in retaliation to isolate.
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Honestly, I was totally surprised by this reaction," Putin said during a meeting with businessmen. "I thought everyone would say, 'Well, thank you, that's good. But no, there was a completely incomprehensible fuss on this issue," Putin told the cameras.
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When I look at (it) from here, I think: 'they've gone crazy, what's going on there is not clear,'" he said. Russia fought a brief but bloody war in 2008 against Georgia and anti-Russian sentiment runs deep in that country. In response to protests against Moscow in Tbilisi, Russia banned air links with Georgia in 2019. But, unexpectedly, Putin lifted the ban this month, giving the green light to a 90-day visa-free regime for Georgian citizens travelling to Russia.
"What happens inside the country is none of our business"
The Russian head of state said Friday that he understood that Georgian leaders had "repeatedly" asked Russia to lift the ban on these flights and this new visa policy. At the same time, he assured that Moscow would not interfere in Georgia's internal affairs. "What happens inside the country is none of our business," he said, adding that the Georgian people must choose their own path.
Last week, protesters in Tbilisi held signs that read: "You are not welcome" and "Russia is a terrorist state." Georgian authorities are accused of cooperating secretly with the Kremlin after years of tensions, and the government insists it must maintain economic ties with Russia.
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