SOCHI, October 23. /TASS/. Russia does not rule out it may prolong a visa-free stay for tourists in the future beyond the 72 hours allowed at present, Sergey Ivanov, the chief of the Presidential Administration staff, told reporters on Thursday.

He recalled that talks between the EU and Russia on visa-free travel had been frozen.

“We have a regulation permitting travelers to visit certain places in the Russian Federation without visas and to stay there for 72 hours,” Ivanov said. “It applies, for instance, to St. Petersburg and Sochi, and I don’t rule out a possibility of prolongaing the stay in the future.”

He indicated along with it that Russia would like to take all such steps on the basis of reciprocity.