Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed his government to lift remaining visa restrictions for Georgian citizens and begin talks on the resumption of Georgian imports, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on April 18.

It said that the move was in keeping with the Russian president’s decision “to implement further practical measures to normalize relations with Georgia.”

The measures also include speeding up the reconstruction of the Zemo (Upper) Larsi border crossing point, which is the only legally operated border crossing point between the two countries.

“In addition to the already implemented decision to resume transport links between the two countries, in the near future postal communication will be resumed as well,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said. “Normalization of relations with Tbilisi would meet the key interests of the Russian and Georgian peoples. We hope that our actions in this respect will be adequately met by the Georgian leadership, from which we expect reciprocal moves in the spirit of mutual respect and taking into account the lawful interests of each other in the field of security and diversified regional cooperation.”

The move comes two days after President Putin instructed his government to establish legal links with breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia on April 16.