Russia will open borders on reciprocal basis, no specific decisions yet — Kremlin

MOSCOW, July 23. /TASS/. Russia will open its borders with other countries on the reciprocal basis, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday, commenting that these issues are being discussed with the foreign partners but no specific decisions have been made. "Certainly, the border opening will be implemented on the reciprocal basis. As it is known, the contacts now are ongoing but no decisions have been made," he stressed. The Kremlin representative reiterated that this issue is controlled by the Russian government and its anti-coronavirus crisis center. Due to the spread of the coronavirus Russia fully suspended regular and charter international flights on March 27, carriers could only operate special flights to return passengers home. Russia’s government also instructed to restrict temporarily cross-border movement through automotive, rail, pedestrian, and other checkpoints of Russia’s state border starting on March 30. Earlier, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko in an open interview with TASS First Deputy Director General Mikhail Gusman said that the issue of possible opening of Russia’s borders with the EU countries is linked directly with the citizens’ safety. He also spoke against the attempts to politicize this issue. Read more