Peskov Discusses Border Openings and Identifies Issues

The press secretary of the Russian President, Dmitry Peskov, expressed his opinion during a meeting with regional journalists, stating that no country is interested in prolonging the situation of closed borders and lack of air communication. However, the coronavirus pandemic continues. This was reported by RIA Novosti.

It is noteworthy that for more than 10 days, citizens of Armenia have been holding protests, demanding that the authorities begin negotiations on the opening of borders with Russia. Under the slogan "I want to go to Russia," they have conducted car rallies and several demonstrations in front of government and National Assembly buildings.

Participants of the protests include labor migrants and family members of ethnic Armenians from Russia who have come to Armenia but cannot return due to the pandemic.

Peskov noted, "As far as I know, the Russian side is ready to restore air communication and direct travel in many cases, but some countries are not ready yet and believe that the level of coronavirus infections in Russia still exceeds acceptable norms. Some countries are also considered as a risk group from our perspective.

Despite the negative economic consequences, all actions are based on the safety of Russian citizens, and at the moment, the coronavirus situation is concerning.

Earlier, the spokesperson for Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Mane Gevorgyan, announced that EEU partners have expressed readiness to discuss the opening of borders, taking into account the overall epidemic situation. She urged Armenian citizens wishing to travel to Russia, noting that a discussion on restoring air communication in the EEU area was announced during a government meeting.

"Issues related to organizing testing and transitioning citizens to quarantine will also be discussed. As a result of clarifying all the questions, unified rules applicable to all EEU countries will be established," she emphasized.

Gevorgyan also highlighted that the Armenian government has never imposed restrictions on those crossing air and land borders. Such restrictions are applied by receiving countries, taking into account Armenia's epidemic situation.

It should be recalled that regular air communication between Armenia and Russia is still not operational; however, charter flights are being conducted. Moreover, land transports through Georgia are not being carried out, partly due to the country's preparations for nationwide elections scheduled for October 31.