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Moscow continues negotiations on visa facilitation with almost 20 countries, TASS reports. According to Ivan Volynkin, who heads the consular department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, this work is going on without stopping. The countries in question are Latin American and Southeast Asian states.
The diplomat explained that the agreement on mutual waiver of visa requirements with Malaysia already entered the stage of negotiation. In China, the topic of improving the agreement on visa-free travel for tourist groups is being raised. The issue of increasing the period of visa-free travel for citizens is being worked out with Hong Kong.
The Russian Foreign Ministry is confident that favorable conditions have been created for guests from abroad to enter Russia.
At the same time, the Foreign Ministry considers it possible that the European Union will ban the issuance of Schengen visas to Russian citizens. Such calls are heard regularly, explained Ivan Volynkin. While they are voiced by the most ardent Russophobes. But at the same time, it is almost impossible for Russians to obtain visas in the Baltic republics, in Poland and the Czech Republic.
The diplomat is sure that even those scenarios that seem unbelievable today cannot be ruled out in the current situation. He hopes that the remnants of pragmatism and common sense will still be preserved in Europe. But if this does not happen, Russia will develop cooperation with some European countries that have retained the ability to negotiate.
Russkiy Mir
