VLADIVOSTOK, Aug. 29 -- Four years after Western sanctions effectively grounded Russian carriers across Europe, Moscow is making a formal push to rebuild one of its most commercially valuable air connections. Russian Transport Minister Andrey Nikitin told the Eastern Economic Forum on Friday that Russia is prepared to negotiate an expansion of direct flights between Russia and India, a move that would deepen a bilateral relationship that has already become one of Moscow's most consequential since 2022.

Nikitin, speaking on the sidelines of the EEF gathering in Vladivostok, said the government is ready to consider increasing flight frequencies on existing routes and opening new ones. The ministry's statement, as relayed by Interfax, offer...