“Russia is promoting the idea of opening the US airspace for Russian airlines as part of a ceasefire agreement with Ukraine, and at the same time these attempts are confronted with EU resistance. Source: Politico, European Truth Details: As the publication notes, the EU is not interested in removing airplaces from the Russian Federation, but without Europe’s participation by Russian carriers it will not be easy to fly to the United States.”, – WRITE: www.pravda.com.ua
Source: Politico, “European Truth”
Details: According to the newspaper, the EU is not interested in withdrawing aircraft from the Russian Federation, and without the participation of Europe, it will not be easy for Russian carriers to fly to the United States.
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“First, Russia’s rigid sanctions are in force against Russia, which include a ban on the flights of Russian airlines through the EU airspace,” said a representative of the European Commission on anonymity.
In addition to political decisions on sanctions, the EU official also pointed to “serious security issues” related to the possible opening of EU airspace for Russian aircraft.
According to him, “it is unknown whether the Russian airlines and air traffic services have been properly serviced over the last three years, which puts the flight suitability of the Russian fleet under serious doubt.”
After a full -scale invasion of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, Russian airlines were forbidden to land and fly over the EU and the USA.
The Russian Federation also blocked access to spare parts for Western manufacturers, such as Boeing and Airbus.
At the same time, Russia demands the restoration of direct aviation from the United States as part of any termination agreement.
In particular, on April 11, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov stated that such a step “should result in the removal of sanctions from Aeroflot.
“The Americans have been looking at it, but we have not seen a single step in response yet,” the Russian minister said.
It was also reported that Russia has asked Washington to allow her to buy aircraft of the American manufacturer Boeing and pay for them by Russian state assets, which have been frozen since the beginning of the war, provided the ceasefire regime was reached.
Any steps to weaken restrictions for US and Russian carriers will create pressure on European airlines that have long complained of additional expenses because of the need to bypass Russia’s airspace during flights to Asia. This gives the advantage of Chinese carriers.
However, despite these considerations, Brussels is in no hurry to negotiate with Moscow on access to the European sky, in particular because of the danger of flights over the Russian territory.
The European Commission representative called the safety of the Russian airspace “problematic”, referring to the disaster of the Azerbaijani Airlines – probably after the Russian air defense missile defeat.
Earlier, Bloomberg reported that US proposals for the conclusion of a “peace agreement” between Russia and Ukraine also provide for the weakening of sanctions against the Russian Federation in case of prolonged ceasefire and refusing to discuss Ukraine’s desire to become a member of NATO.