Russia is ready to switch to a visa-free regime with Turkmenistan if such a desire comes from the Turkmen side. Russian Ambassador to Ashgabat Alexander Blohin announced this in an interview with TASS.
According to Blohin, Russia is ready to ease visa restrictions to the extent that Turkmenistan is ready.
“I would like to emphasize that we are not imposing anything on Turkmenistan. It is his sovereign right to regulate these relations, we respect his decisions. We are fully prepared from liberalization to complete abolition, as the Turkmen side decides,” he said.
Earlier it was reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin relieved Alexander Blohin of his duties as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Turkmenistan, who had headed this post since 2011.
Ivan Volynkin, who previously held the post of director of the consular department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, has been appointed the new Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Turkmenistan.
