The Russian authorities have said that the country is currently working on facilitating visa procedures for six countries.
Announcing the news, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, Evgeny Ivanov, said that part of the list of countries for which the visa procedures will soon get eased are India, Syria, Indonesia, Angola, Vietnam, and the Philippines, VisaGuide.World reports.
Even though the Russian authorities did not make an official statement on the reason they want to facilitate the visa rules for the nationals of the countries mentioned above, it is believed that the country took such a decision to strengthen its ties.
Apart from revealing that the country is planning to ease the visa rules for the six countries, Ivanov also said earlier this year that Russia is also preparing intergovernmental agreements on visa-free trips with 11 countries, including Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Haiti, Barbados, Zambia, Trinidad, Malaysia, and Kuwait, TASS explains.
Reuters notes that since the start of the war in Ukraine, the authorities of Russia have decided to turn to India, China, and African nationals and seek closer ties.
India has been keeping a neutral stance on the matter. The country has not condemned Russia’s actions and has continued to purchase its oil.
On the other hand, Russia has not been able to do the same with other countries such as the US and the EU member states as they have openly condemned its actions, have imposed sanctions, and have called on the country to immediately end the war of aggression against Ukraine.
Due to the current situation and sanctions imposed against Russia, the number of travelers who chose to visit the country last year registered a sharp decline.
Data show that only 200,100 international visitors reached Russia last year, marking a 96.1 percent decline compared to the pre-pandemic period when the country registered 5.1 million traveller arrivals.
The highest number of visitors that chose to travel to Russia last year were from Germany, Türkiye, and Iran.
On the other hand, the lowest number of arrivals was registered from the majority of EU countries. Currently, citizens of Russia are not permitted to visit several EU countries, such as Estonia, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Finland, Poland, and Lithuania, the VisaGuide.World passport index reveals.
The countries mentioned above do not permit Russians to enter their territories as they keep a travel ban.
The passport index further shows that there are also some countries in which Russia has a visa-on-arrival agreement and shows Russia’s passport ranking.
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