France, Russia Negotiating Date To Resume Bilateral Flights - Paris

PARIS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th August, 2020) Paris and Moscow are currently discussing the exact date for resuming flights between the countries amid the improving epidemiological situation, a representative of the French Foreign Ministry told Sputnik on Monday.

On Sunday, Russia's Izvestia newspaper reported, citing sources, that the government was preparing a new list of countries, with which the air traffic would be resumed. The list is reportedly set to be unveiled later this week. According to the newspaper, among these destinations are France, Hungary, Malta, Cyprus, Jordan, Egypt's Cairo and China's Shanghai. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova's office told journalists that there had been no new decisions regarding air traffic resumption yet, while the Russian aviation watchdog Rosaviatsiya refused to comment on the report.

"Discussions on the topic are ongoing," the representative said when asked whether the exact date for resuming air traffic between France and Russia has been fixed.

The diplomat did not provide any details on the issue.

In March, Russia suspended all international flights in a bid to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus infection. On August 1, Russia has started gradually resuming air traffic with a number of foreign states. Flights are operated from Moscow, St. Petersburg and Rostov-on-Don to London and Istanbul. Russia also resumed flights to Turkish resorts on August 10 and to Switzerland on August 15. Starting August 20, Russia resumed international flights from three more Russian cities � Kazan, Kaliningrad, Novosibirsk.